


Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

by Marine226



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010), NCIS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anger, Blood and Injury, Death Row, Depression, Episode Related, Fear, First Kiss, First Meetings, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Slash, Prison Escape, Some Humor, Suicidal Thoughts, Trust Issues, dark themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:15:02
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 41
Words: 59,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26025562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marine226/pseuds/Marine226
Summary: AU - Steve is on death row for a murder he didn't commit. Can he prove his innocence before it's too late?
Relationships: Anthony DiNozzo/Jethro Gibbs, Steve McGarrett/Danny "Danno" Williams
Comments: 140
Kudos: 207





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I had all intentions of getting started on the sequel of one of my other fics, but this plot bunny hit me in the face and wouldn't go away. 
> 
> This fic will roughly follow some of the events in seasons 1 and 2, but the order will be all out of whack. I had to make some major changes to get this to make sense, hence why I've listed it as an AU. Hopefully it all makes sense. Happy to clarify things as they come up, sometimes I forget to explain why a certain thing is done or happens.
> 
> This will be a long fic, probably even the longest I've written. And I already have plans for a sequel - I know right, another one?!
> 
> And it's rated Explicit for potential things in later chapters...
> 
> Anywho, enjoy!

**28 March 2012**

_“You know what’s funny? You don’t look Hawaiian,” Anton Hesse commented from the back seat of his car, “But you were born here, weren’t you?”_

_Steve glanced at his prisoner through the rear-view mirror. The man looked comfortable in the backseat, despite being restrained three ways to Sunday. Steve turned his attention back to the road, “You’re gonna tell us everything. Every terrorist cell you helped arm, every supplier you worked with, all your trafficking associates. Everyone you’ve ever sold weapons to.”_

_“Chasing my brother and I over the world for five years, you’re like a doggy looking for a bone. You don’t think we’d do our homework on you?” Anton asked calmly._

_Steve gave him a small frown through the mirror, but didn’t think about it much. The Hesse brothers had been playing mind games with him since the beginning. He was just thankful that he could finally put this case to rest and get on with his life._

_He started feeling sick to his stomach. A sense of foreboding came over him, but he couldn’t figure out why. Then his phone rang._

_“You should get that,” Anton piped up, “You don’t speak to your father nearly enough.”_

_Steve wondered how the hell Anton knew who was calling him. But of course he knew, if it wasn’t for him, none of this would have happened. And wasn’t that the kicker? He didn’t know how he knew that, but it was a certainty._

_“Dad,” Steve answered, glancing back at Anton._

_“Hey champ,” his father responded. There was something off about his voice, it sounded strained._

_“You alright?” Steve asked, but he already knew the answer._

_“Who are these people, Steve?”_

_Then his dad’s voice was replaced with the thick Irish accent that he expected, “Now I know where you get it from, you got a tough old man here. Steve, we both have something to lose here. Now listen to me very carefully, I’m offering you a trade; your father for my brother. All things considered, I’d say it’s pretty generous, wouldn’t you?”_

_“Come on Victor, you know how this works. We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Steve responded._

_“We?” Victor asked with a degrading snort, “Aren’t you on forced leave? A little birdie told me you’re acting alone, you’re out on a personal vendetta, aren’t you?”_

_“You killed Freddie,” Steve snarled through the phone. He wasn’t going to deny that the Navy had told him to take some time off. He’d been only too happy to accept when the Hesse brothers’ trail led to Hawaii, he could do this on his own._

_“The Navy don’t even know you’re here, do they?” Victor asked him, “Then you can make an exception. No more games. I’m taking my brother now!”_

_“I swear to God I will hunt you down and I will kill you,” Steve growled down the phone. The uneasiness in his stomach tripled in intensity, something was about to happen, and it wasn’t anything good._

_“Hey,” Anton got his attention from the backseat, “Boom.”_

_Suddenly a big truck pulled out in front of them. Steve swerved onto the other side of the road to avoid it, but wasn’t fast enough. The back right corner of the car clipped the truck, sending them flying._

Steve woke with a gasp. His heart was pounding so hard, it was a miracle it didn’t pound out of his chest. He stared at the ceiling of his cell and waited for the remnants of his nightmare to recede. Not that it would. Not completely. Not whilst he was here. The bright side was that he only had to live with it for another 14 months, 2 weeks, 1 day and 18 hours. 

Steve glanced at his watch and amended the count down; 14 months, 2 weeks, 1 day, 17 hours, 31 minutes and 10 seconds. 9 seconds. 8… 7… 6…


	2. Chapter 2

He bit back a frustrated sigh and scrubbed his hands over his face. His beard and moustache were getting long again, but he didn’t feel like going ten rounds with the guards just to feel comfortable again. Every time he used the bathroom facilities, one – or more – of the guards would take it upon themselves to teach him a lesson for killing a cop. 

These days, he preferred to avoid showering and let his hair grow long. It’s not like he needed to be presentable for anyone anyway. Still, he gave in every few weeks or so. He’d gone for weeks at a time without showering when his team was on a mission, surviving with just wet wipes. 

Enough procrastinating, he had to get up. Steve rolled to his feet as if he didn’t have the weight of the entire world on his shoulders. He took a deep breath and lowered himself into the plank position on the floor. 

He wasted no time in starting the workout. He’d figured out pretty quickly that if he didn’t work his body into exhaustion from the moment he got up, if he didn’t keep his regular routine, he sank into a deep, dark depression. Not that the exercise stopped it completely, but it helped keep the worst of it at bay.

Steve stopped counting his push-ups, instead he continued going until his arms were dead weights. But it did nothing to stop the carryover of his visions from his dreams into the waking world.

_The sounds of gunfire stopped any notion Steve had of slowly coming to his senses. He quickly realised he was still in his car, but the car was on its roof. He smashed out the passenger window and climbed out, making sure to fire back._

Steve shook his head, trying to push the images away, but it was no use. He increased the pace of his push-ups, relishing the pain in his muscles.

_He pulled Anton out of the wrecked car and told him to stay put as he put down two of the attackers in quick succession. He jumped out and ran to the truck, firing as he went. He hit one of the shooters in the neck, whilst the last guy shot back, hitting him in the shoulder._

_Steve ducked to the ground, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, and looked under the truck. He took aim and hit the remaining shooter’s leg, bringing him crashing down to the ground like the sack of shit he was. Steve fired again, hitting the guy in the centre of his forehead._

_Steve sighed in relief, but didn’t relax. He looked back to the car and his heart sank. Anton!_

He growled as he completed his last push-up, then unceremoniously collapsed to the ground. But rather than stop there, he rolled onto his back and started a set of sit ups. He set a punishing pace, trying to stop his head from spinning.

_“No, put it down,” Steve tried, but Anton had picked up a weapon. Then he pointed it at Steve, but Steve was too fast. Steve fired twice, then ran forward, cursing himself for what had happened._

_Then his phone rang again._

Steve blew out a frustrated breath. It wasn’t the first time he’d relived the chain of events that had led to his arrest and conviction. But it didn’t make it any easier. He knew what happened next, but he was powerless to stop his brain from showing him anyway.

_“My brother’s dead, isn’t he?” Victor asked._

_Steve stared at the deserted street, trying to come up with something to say that would stop the inevitable. But like every other time, he came up blank. There was nothing he could say or do to stop it._

_“Then so is your father,” Victor told him._

The gunshot from his vision was so loud, so real, that Steve stopped in the middle of his sit-up. He didn’t need to look around his tiny cell to know, to confirm how far away that was. He resumed his sit-ups and hoped like hell that his brain was done for today and there would be no more visions. But he wasn’t that lucky. He was never that lucky.

_Steve had stolen a car from a passing tourist. If he could have chosen a car, it would not have been the pink ‘Barbie’ type car, but it had been the first to drive by. So he’d decided not to be so picky. He drove like a wild man, breaking all speed limits and numerous road rules to get to his father’s house._

_The door had been left ajar, so Steve had swept the house, but there was nobody inside. No one except for his father. Steve rushed to his side, already knowing he was too late. But he couldn’t_ not _try._

_“Dad?” he asked, kneeling next to him. His hands ghosted over his father, not quite touching. It was clear that there was nothing he could do for him, but he didn’t want to believe it._

_“Dad?!” he asked again, finally resting a hand on his father’s chest, whilst he double checked his carotid artery for a pulse on his neck with the other. But his father was cold to the touch. Even if by some miracle, he’d survived the initial impact, there was no way he’d have lasted until Steve had arrived._

_Steve hung his head and blinked away tears. He may not have been close to his father, but he’d still loved him. He’d hoped that one day, they could have patched things up. But he’d been too afraid, maybe even too proud, to make the first move._

_“HPD! Don’t move!” shouts came from all over the property, and suddenly the place was swarmed with cops pointing the business end of their weapons at him._

Steve flopped back to the ground, his abs screaming at him from the abuse he’d subjected them too. But it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. Not for the first time, his thoughts turned to Mary and what she must think of him now. He hadn’t seen his baby sis in nearly twenty years, but she’d turned up to his trial. 

She hadn’t stayed long. She’d only stayed long enough to get the general gist of the case against him, she hadn’t even stayed to listen to his defence. And it was more than telling that she hadn’t visited him since. But then, not many people had visited him since he’d been convicted of murdering his father and sentenced to death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	3. Chapter 3

“McGarrett! You got a visitor!” one of the guards barked at him through the cell door, then the outer door opened and a set of chains were flung at him.

Steve was tempted to play hard ball and make the guard put the stupid chains on him himself. But he remembered what happened last time he’d had that bright idea. Besides, he wanted to know what his lawyer had to say for himself. He knew his visitor was his lawyer, nobody else dared visit him. Anybody who had anything to do with him before, had disappeared a long time ago.

So, he picked up the chains and fastened them to his waist, then ankles and lastly his wrists. He held up his hands to the guard in a gesture of ‘see?’.

The guard nodded and unlocked the inner door, he waited until Steve walked out, before giving him a good shove, “Move!”

Steve stumbled, but managed to keep on his feet. The temptation to turn around and head butt the guy was so strong that he nearly gave in. But again, it’s not as though he’d been making friends in here. The guards were just waiting for an excuse to beat him to all hell. Again. They acted like they had thought of his dad as their friend, but it didn’t fool him.

“Keep going!” the guard snapped at him, shoving him again. 

Steve couldn’t hold in the growl, but again, he managed to stay on his feet. 

“What was that? Got something to say?” the guard asked him.

Instead of replying, Steve bit his lip and started shuffling forward. He ignored the laugh behind him and kept going. Eventually they stopped outside the visitor’s room that was used for personal matters, like that of a lawyer’s visit. The guard made him stop, then opened the door and followed him inside. 

Steve stopped just inside the door and frowned at the unfamiliar man sitting at the other side of the table, “You’re not my lawyer.”

The man stood up and held his hands out to calm him down, “No, Odell asked me to cover for him.”

“For how long? What happened to him?” Steve asked, his agitation at the situation making him snappy.

“He had a family emergency,” the guy responded.

Steve frowned, “What are you talking about? And who the hell are you?”

“Oh ah, I’m Gary Davis. I’ve taken over Odell’s cases for a few months, that’s all you need to know,” the guy responded, “Come on, take a seat.”

Steve glanced back at the guard behind him and considered walking back out. But he needed to know what was going on with his appeal, so he turned around again and sat down. As soon as he sat, the guard ensured his wrists were secured to the table and his ankles to the ground.

“Thanks Glenn,” Steve muttered with contempt.

The guard didn’t say anything, but Steve knew he’d pay for the comment later.

“So, what’s the news?” Steve asked, keen to get this horror show on the road.

“Your appeal’s been squashed,” Davis responded.

“What?!” Steve gasped. It’s not that he really expected anything different after what had happened during the trial, but he was still taken by surprise. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

“They said you have no grounds to reopen the case,” Davis replied.

“But..?” Steve frowned and tried to gather his thoughts. He swallowed hard, “What about the tourist? Odell said he’d found a promising lead with the guy.”

Davis nodded, “Yeah, we found him. He OD’d three weeks ago – ”

“That’s convenient!” Steve interrupted.

“Look man, he spoke to HPD when they tracked down who the vehicle belonged to. He told them that you just appeared from nowhere and hijacked his car,” Davis told him, “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“How about you start with the truth!” Steve snapped. He hated lawyers, but there was something off about this guy. More so than there normally was with these kinds of people. “Odell said he thought he was holding something back. I mean, he would have seen the whole mess of a car crash, not to mention the four – no, five – dead bodies lying in the middle of the goddamned road! That kind of thing doesn’t just disappear!”

“HPD went over that stretch of road several times and found no signs of an accident,” Davis said.

“It wasn’t an accident! It was an execution!” Steve growled dangerously.

“An execution, huh?” Davis asked, and the prick had the nerve to smile, “And uh, who’s execution was that supposed to be?”

“Mine! You stupid piece of shit!” Steve shouted, “But I was smarter than they were!”

“Doesn’t look like it from my point of view,” Davis snarked, deliberately looking around the visitation room to prove his point.

Steve stared at him for a moment, then he realised what his gut already knew, “Who sent you?”

Davis shrugged, “Just doing my job, man.”

“Yeah? You expect me to believe that you’re just filling in for my lawyer? What the hell did you do to him?” Steve growled.

Davis stood up slowly and calmly, then leaned forward so he was just outside Steve’s space. Then he whispered so only Steve could hear him, “Victor sends his regards. He said he’s looking forward to seeing you fry.”

Steve stood abruptly and pitched forward to head butt the man hard. He was pleased to hear something crack, followed by the man shouting in pain and the resultant blood pouring from his nose.

“Why don’t you come over here and say that again! Huh?!” Steve shouted at him, slamming his fist against the table for emphasis.

“Guards!” Davis shouted, clearly the guy didn’t have the balls to stand up to a restrained man.

Steve grinned at him, knowing he probably looked deranged, but at this stage, he didn’t care anymore. 

The guard from before came back in, quickly assessing the situation. “Sit down!” the guy shouted.

Steve glared at Davis for a moment longer, but did as he was told. As the guard released his ankles from the floor, Davis found his voice again, “Oh, Steve? Before you go, there is one other thing.”

“Yeah? What’s that?” Steve growled.

“Your execution date has been brought forward,” Davis responded, grinning at him through the blood on his face.

“What?” Steve asked in shock. 

“Yeah, the state of Hawaii wasn’t impressed with your attitude or repeated appeals, so they found an opening six months from now. You know, to do the deed,” Davis replied, nearly outright laughing in his face.

“On who’s authority?” Steve snapped, as the guard detached his wrists from the table.

“Your sister, Mary, is the one that asked,” Davis told him.

“My sis- If you so much as touch a hair on her head – !” Steve threatened.

“You’ll what?” Davis asked, then spread his arms wide to indicate the prison, “From where?”

“Son of a – ” Steve started, launching himself out of the chair and across the table. He grabbed the front of Davis’s shirt before the guard got him. 

Then he was being set upon by numerous guards. He hadn’t heard anyone else enter the room, but it was clear he was outnumbered. He covered his head as best as he could, but it wasn’t much. Then he was being dragged to his feet. Suddenly one of the guards hit him hard in the chest, causing Steve to double over in pain.

He ignored the laughter coming from Davis and tried to remain on his feet as he was frog-marched back to his cell. When they finally got back to death row, he lost his escort in the form of them throwing him to the ground. 

He didn’t have time to catch himself before hitting the ground. He managed to partially roll, so he fell on his side, but he still head butted the ground. Steve felt dazed, but he pulled himself together. He lay still, waiting for the abuse, but it didn’t come.

“Get up,” one of the guards shouted at him.

Steve slowly got to his feet, expecting an attack that didn’t come. He started to slowly shuffle forward, and still there was nothing. He didn’t relax until he got back into his cell, but that was a mistake. 

It happened as soon as he let his guard down. He didn’t even see the other man until he was right in front of him. Then before he could react appropriately, his side exploded in pain as if he’d been shot. But he hadn’t heard the weapon fire. 

Steve gasped in shock and looked down the see the man withdrawing a shank from his side. Steve pressed his hand against the wound and stumbled forward. He wasn’t sure if the movement was as a result of the sudden dizziness and pain, or whether he was trying to get at his attacker. In either case, the guy stepped back out of his reach. 

He dropped to his knees and stared at the guy, trying to take in his details. But the guy was dressed in the same orange jumpsuit as all the prisoners and was wearing a black face mask. Steve frowned and pitched forward into nothingness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> I know there are some things that don't quite add up yet, but never fear, most (hopefully all) will be explained in due course.


	4. Chapter 4

Steve woke up to the blaring of sirens. He cracked an eye open and realised he was in an ambulance and they were going at speed, presumably to a hospital. He tried to move the oxygen mask off his face, but found his wrist handcuffed to the side of the gurney. He couldn’t help a groan escaping from his mouth as he tried with his other hand. 

This time at least, his hand was free, and he pushed the mask off his face. He took a deep breath, feeling better for not having air pushed at him.

“Oh, no, no, no. Hunny, you need to keep that on,” one of the paramedics tutted at him, placing the mask over his face again. 

An officer from the HPD was sitting on the other side of him, watching him intently. Steve nodded his head and closed his eyes again, making it appear as though he would be an easy passenger. But his head was somewhere else entirely. 

This was his only opportunity to escape. He could count on extra guards surrounding him at the hospital, and almost certainly on the way back to the prison too. But now? Well, they thought he was injured too badly to put up much of a fight. Hence the lack of security.

He gently tested the handcuffs; they were firm, but there was enough wiggle room – if he dislocated his thumb. He didn’t relish the idea, but it wasn’t the first time he’d had to do it. And of course, it was a better option than the alternative.

Then he subtly moved his feet and found a lack of a restraint. Which meant that once he was free of the handcuff, he was free. Or at least, relatively speaking. 

Suddenly, the ambulance was braking hard, but apparently not hard enough. The HPD officer was thrown to the floor, as was the paramedic, only she hit her head on the rail of the gurney on the way down. Steve’s gurney slid across the floor, despite the brakes, and slammed into the front of the back carriage. Before Steve could react to the situation, gunfire erupted all around them.

Steve tried to take cover, but it was hard to do that when you were restrained. The officer jumped up and drew his weapon, staring at the back doors as though someone was about to come bursting through.

Steve glanced down at his cuffed wrist and hesitated for only a moment, before dislocating his thumb. The cuff slipped off his wrist with a bit of resistance, then he was free. He grabbed the officer’s weapon and hit the guy in the face. The officer fought back, but he was no match for Steve.

He smacked the officer’s head into the side rail of the bed, then let go when the man passed out. Steve quickly detached the various wires and the oxygen mask, before jumping off the gurney. He checked that the paramedic was only unconscious, then made his move. 

When Steve jumped out of the ambulance, he found himself in the middle of downtown somewhere. The street was littered with commercial estates and there wasn’t too many cars around. 

One of the cop cars that had been travelling behind them had swerved off the road to avoid hitting them. But the officers had been struck down by whoever had organised this. He wasn’t sure what had become of the officers in the car that had been escorting them from the front, but he wasn’t going to wait around to find out. As if to emphasise the point, a stray bullet hit the ambulance close to where Steve was standing. Steve ducked out of habit and ran. 

He heard a female’s voice call out to him from the accident, but he had no desire to go back and find out what she wanted. Her voice sounded familiar, but he couldn’t place it. The only females who would have cared for him once upon a time, were far from here, and had turned their backs on him. 

It appeared that Mary couldn’t care less about what happened to him. Her past actions and now taking a part in bringing his execution date forward… _But what if she’d been forced to sign it? What if she’d been at gun point?_

And the only other person Steve could think of was Catherine. But she’d shunned him too. She had visited him when he was awaiting trial. She’d only done it once. But they way she’d spoken to him, and the way she’d looked at him… If there hadn’t been a plastic screen between the two of them, she would have spat at him. 

*************

Steve ran until he couldn’t run anymore. His legs felt like leaden weights and the wound in his chest was leaking like a tap. He stumbled to a halt, collapsing beside a large dumpster. He only hoped that whoever had ambushed them hadn’t followed him. It wouldn’t be hard to track him, he’d left a trail of blood so thick that even a fifth grader could follow it.

He tried to catch his breath, but it was hard when every breath made him feel like he was about to pass out. He needed medical attention, and soon. Pressing against his wound in an attempt to stop the flow of blood, Steve stood up again and leant against the dumpster. He could hear sirens in the distance, which could only mean bad news. He wouldn’t allow himself to be taken again. Not alive anyway.

He needed to get moving again. Standing still was not an option. He stumbled towards the street and assessed his surrounds. There were a few cars around, which would only be a problem if he remained in the orange jumpsuit. He spied an ABC store two stores down from where he currently stood, it’d have to do.

Steve applied more pressure to his wound and beelined for the store. He grabbed a Hawaiian shirt from the rack out the front and put it on over the jumpsuit. It would at least hide what he was for a little while. Then he picked up a black baseball cap that had a turtle embroided on it, and put it on over his shaggy hair. 

He ducked into the store, grabbing a ‘I love Hawaii’ bag and started filling it. He didn’t waste time as he grabbed what he needed. 

Couple of water bottles, sugar, salt, vodka. As he walked down the aisle with first aid products, he wiped his arm along the shelves and poured the items into his bag. He was nearly done when he heard the shout, “Hey! Hey, what the hell, man?!”

Steve quickened his pace, grabbing a bunch of shirts and pants and shoving them into the bag.

“Stop! Stop or I’ll shoot!” 

This time, Steve turned around. The shop keeper was holding a handgun out at him, but the guy looked like he’d only bought it for protection. He’d never used the thing in his life. Steve could tell by how the guy was holding the weapon. 

The guy backed up when he realised that Steve wasn’t wearing the bright orange pants as a fashion statement.

“Sorry, I just – ” Steve started, moving forward as he started speaking. Then he disarmed the man, turned it around and cocked the hammer.

“Whoa man, hey, you can take it,” the guy stammered, holding out his hands in surrender, “This is just a job.”

Steve nodded, then turned around and ran from the shop. Just because the man hadn’t fought him, didn’t mean he wouldn’t call the cops. And Steve had only just lost them…kind of. He ran down the sidewalk, looking for an easy getaway. A getaway that came in the form of a grey Camaro, where the stupid owner had not only left the window down, but the keys in the ignition.

He jumped into the car and started the engine, which roared to life. 

“HEY!” a small, blond man yelled as he came out of the shop next to the ABC store, he dropped his plastic bags and ran towards the car, “NO!!!”

Steve slammed the car into reverse, pulling out of the park without looking. He shoved the car into first and peeled off down the street.

In the rear-view mirror, he saw the man run into the middle of the road with his gun out. But he didn’t fire it, instead he yelled something that Steve couldn’t make out. 

“I need it more,” Steve muttered as he sped away from the angry little man.

He groaned and pressed against his wound again. He needed to find somewhere to lay low for a while and give himself some first aid – or second aid, if he was honest.

A noise from the backseat had him quickly glancing there and what he saw shook him so much that he slammed on the brakes. The car came to a standstill in the middle of a thankfully deserted street. He turned around again and stared at the young girl in the backseat, “What - ? Who - ?” he tried, his thoughts going at a mile a minute. _Why the hell was there a child in this car?!_

The girl stared at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t sure who was more of afraid of who at this stage. 

“Who are you?” he croaked out eventually, his voice raspy from disuse and pain.

“I’m Grace,” the girl answered, still staring at him, “Are you going to hurt me?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	5. Chapter 5

_“Who are you?” he croaked out eventually, his voice raspy from disuse and pain._

_“I’m Grace,” the girl answered, still staring at him, “Are you going to hurt me?”_

“No!” Steve snapped, before his head caught up with his mouth and he made an effort to soften his tone, “No, I’m not… I’m not going to hurt you, okay?”

“Okay,” Grace agreed softly, but the face she made said she didn’t fully believe him. She’d undoubtedly saw the handgun that was resting on his lap.

Steve sighed, wincing when the movement sent shock-waves of pain through his torso. He turned around and wiped his forehead. He couldn’t deal with the complication this introduced. Steve pulled the car into a park on the side of the road and turned back to his passenger.

“Ah, I’m uh, I’m gonna let you out here, okay? Do you need help getting out?” he asked.

“Here?!” she asked, her eyes getting even wider.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with here?” Steve asked breathlessly, then he turned around and realised this wasn’t the best place to stop. He couldn’t leave her here on her own. Chances were that she’d never be seen again, and he couldn’t have that on his conscience. He thumped the steering wheel in frustration, he didn’t have time for this. He needed to hunker down somewhere and attend to his wound before he passed out. Things were already starting to get fuzzy around the edges.

“Sorry,” Grace said.

Wordlessly, Steve peeled out of the parking spot and took off down the road. This wasn’t going to plan – not that he had much of a plan. 

“Why the hell did your dad leave you in the car on your own, huh?!” he demanded, his frustration making him lash out, “Why did he have to do that?”

“I wanted ice-cream,” the girl answered softly and it sounded like she was close to tears, “Danno said he’d just be a minute.”

Steve bit his lip and concentrated on driving. The cops wouldn’t be far behind him and this was a very recognisable car. 

“Shit!” Steve muttered, quickly pulling over again. As soon as the car stopped, he jumped out.

“Where are you going?!” the girl called at him, she sounded terrified. 

Steve ignored her, searching the car instead. Finally, he found the lever to pop the hood. He raced to the front of the car and stared at the monstrosity of an engine that greeted him. Despite the situation, he was impressed. But there was no time for that now.

He traced the various tubes and wires until he found what he was looking for. Anyone who owned a car like this, definitely had the tracking software to go with it. But the software was useless without the hardware. He quickly and carefully removed the device and threw it on the side of the road.

He stared at the girl when he got back to the front door. She was a good-looking kid, and her father seemed to care about her a lot. He needed to make sure she got out safely and hopefully quickly. But she couldn’t ride in the backseat. He hated having people behind him, it made his skin crawl.

“Can you jump into the front seat?” Steve asked.

Grace climbed between the chairs with ease and got into the passenger seat. Steve nodded and got in, “Okay, where do you live?”

“You’re taking me home?” she asked, staring at him with those bright, round eyes again.

Steve nodded and got back onto the road, “Yeah, do you know the way?”

Grace nodded excessively, “Are you giving Danno his car back too?”

Steve nodded, “Yeah, but not just yet. I need to borrow the car for a bit.”

“Danno’s going to be upset,” Grace told him.

“What’s a Danno?” Steve asked, glancing at his young passenger.

A sheepish look passed over the girl’s face, “He’s my dad.”

Steve nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat as his thoughts turned towards his own father. But he couldn’t allow himself to get distracted. Instead, he focussed on the current conversation. He cleared his throat and asked, “Okay, so why ‘Danno’?”

“I couldn’t say his name when I was a kid,” Grace explained.

Steve snorted, “You still are a kid.”

They lapsed into silence and Steve turned his attention to the road once again. He turned onto the highway against his better judgement, he really needed to avoid the main arterials. As if to prove his point, after only a few of minutes of travelling down the highway, he saw a couple of police cars and an ambulance travelling in the opposite direction. Their lights were flashing, and they were going at a rate of knots.

Steve held his breath, flinching as they crossed paths, their sirens blaring. He kept one eye on the rear- view mirror as he drove, but the vehicles kept going instead of turning around. So, they hadn’t received the memo yet about him acquiring a vehicle or about his new friend. _Kidnapping._

He shook his head to clear the thoughts and pushed the accelerator harder. It wouldn’t take them long to figure out his movements post the escape. He expected every cop in O’ahu to be looking for him before the end of the day.

“Did you escape from jail?” the girl asked, still staring at him with wide eyes.

“No. I mean, well yeah, kinda,” Steve responded, glancing at his young passenger, “I escaped from prison, it’s different to jail.”

Grace nodded as if she knew what he was talking about. Then she looked at him in concern, “What did you do?”

Steve swallowed hard and stared at the road ahead of them to avoid her eyes. “They convicted me of murder,” he stated.

Again, Grace just took it all in as though she understood. But this time, she didn’t follow up with a question.

“But I ah, I’m innocent,” he felt compelled to tell her, “I didn’t do what they… I didn’t do it.”

“Danno says that everyone in jail thinks they’re innocent,” Grace told him earnestly.

The comment brought a startled laugh out of Steve, making Grace jump. “Sorry, sorry,” he said, then he nodded, “Yeah, I’d agree with him. What does he do?”

“He’s a detective,” Grace told him.

Steve groaned, wanting to bash his head against the steering wheel. He glanced at his companion, “Really?”

Grace nodded, “He’s really good at it.”

Steve sighed deeply and looked back at the road. It figured that the car he’d stolen, not only had a young child in it, but also belonged to a cop. He was so dead. He wiped a hand over his sweaty face and concentrated on the road. 

He glanced at Grace and found her looking at him with her face all scrunched up.

“What?” he asked.

“You smell,” Grace replied, looking for all the world like she hadn’t wanted to say anything.

Steve swallowed hard and watched the road. It was one thing to know you stank, it was another to think about the reasons why. How did you tell an eight-year-old that you refused to shower for weeks on end because you didn’t want to get attacked by guards? That the thought of getting undressed and trying to get clean sent shivers down his spine because even hell-week couldn’t have prepared him for that.

“Didn’t they let you shower in jail?” Grace suddenly asked.

Steve shook his head, “No.” It was partly true, so he didn’t feel too bad about lying to her.

More cop cars and ambulances were speeding down the highway in the opposite direction, but as before, they kept going. But it wouldn’t continue that way, it was too dangerous staying on the highway. He made a split-second decision and took the next exit.

“My house is that way,” Grace said quickly, pointing back at the highway.

“We’re taking a detour,” Steve told her. When he looked across, he saw the worried look on her face. “How old are you, Grace?” he asked, anything to keep that look from her face.

“Eight and a quarter,” Grace replied instantly, “How old are you?”

Steve dipped his head, he supposed that was fair. “Thirty-three and a half,” he answered with a grin.

They lapsed into silence again, both lost in their own thoughts. Steve started thinking about what he needed to do next. It was nearly a sure thing that Victor was still on the island, but he wouldn’t want to hang around now. Not now that Steve had escaped. The guy must know that Steve would be out to get him. 

The question then was; where would the guy be hiding out? He remembered reading the police report about Fred Durant. Ballistics had got a hit on the suspected arms dealer, but then the report had disappeared. That report had disappeared and had been replaced by another one, one that implicated Steve. They had matched the bullet to Steve’s weapon, something that shouldn’t have been possible.

Suddenly, Grace screamed, bringing Steve out of his thoughts. Then Steve realised he’d wondered into the path of an oncoming truck. He quickly swerved out of the way, missing the semi, which blew its horn at him. But the fun wasn’t over yet. Steve tried to gain control of the vehicle, but he over-corrected, earning another scream from the girl.

This time, he let the car carry them off the road, before slowly correcting its course. Of course, that meant crashing through the sugar cane field. They finally came to a stop in the middle of the field.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	6. Chapter 6

Steve turned the car off and tried to stop the rapid beating of his heart. The car was silent apart from the sounds of both passengers panting in fear. 

Steve pressed his hand against his side and leant forward to put his forehead against the steering wheel. He took a couple of ragged breaths. He didn’t think he’d be able to make it to wherever the kid lived, let alone to stop somewhere quiet to attend to his wound. 

Finally, he straightened up and rested his head against the headrest. Then he looked at the frightened, young girl who was sitting next to him. She was terrified. He didn’t blame her. She was just an innocent bystander that he’d drawn into his crusade. He didn’t think apologising would do anything to make her feel any better, so he started the car again and slowly made his way out of the field. 

He stopped again on the side of the road, trying to get his bearings. There was a small track that would come up shortly on his left that would lead to an abandoned warehouse. It would have to do.

Then he considered something that he hadn’t thought of before, and he nearly kicked himself. He turned to his passenger, “Hey, uh… do you have a cell?”

“I’m eight,” she told him, her tone leaving him in no doubt that she thought he was an idiot for asking.

“Yeah, I know. My uh, my friend had a daughter about your age, and she had a cell,” Steve pressed.

Instead of answering, Grace looking out the window, “Are you still taking me home?”

“Yeah, kiddo,” Steve replied, then pulled out on to the road again, “We need to make a quick stop though.”

“What for?” Grace asked, staring at him again.

Steve glanced at her for a moment, then looked back at the road, “Are you squeamish when it comes to blood?”

“What does squeamish mean?”

Steve sighed and shook his head, “I’m injured, I need to uh, I need to patch myself up. I’m losing a lot of blood and I won’t be able to keep going if I don’t.”

“You could drop me off at a police station first?” she asked.

Steve shook his head, “I don’t think so, kiddo.” There was no way he could do that; he just didn’t trust the police enough. But he couldn’t tell the kid that, he had no doubt she thought her dad was a good cop, but he didn’t trust any of them. And he didn’t need any more complications. 

Grace just continued looking at him with her wide, staring eyes. Whatever she was searching him for, she finally found it and looked away.

Steve silently nodded and veered off the main road onto the dirt track. The track was bumpy and still muddy from the recent rain, so Steve slowed down. Ten gruelling minutes later, they finally arrived at the abandoned warehouse.

Steve sighed in relief as he brought the car to a stop. He slowly got out of the car, falling to the ground as his blood pressure dropped when he stood. He continued kneeling until his blood pressure normalised, then slowly got to his feet again. When he didn’t get the head-spins again, he shuffled forward to the large sliding door and eyed the rusting lock. Steve looked away as he shot the lock off the bolt, then undid the chain.

Taking a deep steadying breath, he put his shoulder against the door and pushed with his whole-body weight. It wasn’t that the door was heavy, he wanted to minimise the impact on his abs.

When the door was open far enough for the car to fit through, he abandoned the door and got back into the car. Grace didn’t say anything to him as he slowly pulled the car into the warehouse. He turned the vehicle around in the warehouse, so the front end pointed out, just in case he needed to make a quick getaway. 

He didn’t bother to close the big door again for the same reason. He grabbed his bag of goodies from the ABC store and dumped it on a convenient table. Then he popped the trunk and grinned. At least there was something good about taking a cop’s car. He grabbed the medical bag and emptied the contents on to the table. Then he did the same with the other bag.

“What’re you doing?” Grace suddenly asked from next to him.

Steve couldn’t stop himself from jumping at her proximity. He didn’t notice her even get out of the car. He was definitely slipping. 

Grace studied him as if she knew what he was thinking. But that was impossible, she was only eight years old. 

Steve cleared his throat to distract himself, “See that rack over there?” he asked instead, motioning with his head to a rack that had probably held clothes once upon a time.

Grace nodded and leveled her gaze on him once again.

“Go get it,” Steve told her as he started sorting out the bags’ contents. A wave of dizziness swept over him again and he braced himself against the table. Then he quickly sat on the chair next to the table as the feeling got worse. 

Grace brought the rack back and set it next to him. Steve nodded his thanks and indicated the hangers, “Can you pass me two of those?”

Again, Grace wordlessly did as he asked. He bent the hangers, so they resembled diamonds, then looped the hooks through two of the holes at the top of the IV bag. He hung onto the business end of the IV line and held up the bag with the hangers for Grace and nodded at the rack again. Thankfully, Grace understood what he wanted and hung the bag up.

"What's uh, what's your favourite subject at school?" he breathlessly asked. He figured he needed to get the girl talking, somehow distract her from what was going on.

"Maths," she answered.

Steve nodded, then rested his forearm on his lap and turned it over. He blinked hard to take the fuzzy edge off his vision and felt up his arm to find his vein. "That's good. Good. Why?"

As Grace explained what she liked about Maths, Steve quickly pushed the needle in, thankfully getting the vein on his first go. At least his combat first aid training was finally paying off.

“Eww,” Grace gasped, scrunching her face up.

“Yeah,” Steve murmured, putting some pieces of tape over the line so it didn’t move. “You haven’t even seen the gross part yet,” he muttered, blinking rapidly as the world started swaying as though he was on a ship. 

He put his hand on his forehead, but it didn’t help. No rest for the wicked. He pushed his jumpsuit down and his shirt up to expose his wound.

Grace backed away from him, dropping something as she stared at the wound. But Steve couldn’t worry about her now, he needed to stop the bleeding. He reached a shaky hand out to grab the vodka and undid the cap. Then he quickly asked, "Tell - tell me about... about your parents?"

Grace started talking about New Jersey, so Steve nodded along. Then he stuffed his t-shirt into his mouth, so he had something to bite down on. He took a shaky breath and poured the vodka over his wound. He shouted into the t-shirt as pain ripped through his torso and tears spiked in his eyes.

Steve grunted as he stopped pouring and took the material out of his mouth. Then for good measure, he took a generous gulp from the bottle, before putting it back on the table. He wiped his mouth and blinked the tears of pain away. He grabbed the WoundSeal Powder and poured it generously over the wound. He grunted as the powder hit the wound, but it didn’t hurt. There was just a warm feeling as the powder did its work.

He grabbed another packet of the powder and poured it over the first application. He didn’t know how large the wound was, but it was better to take precautions. Then he picked up some gauze and put pressure on his wound to help the powder to its thing. He counted to 30, then gently cleaned the blood and vodka from around the wound. Once he was done, he put a fresh piece of gauze over the wound and taped it down.

Steve sighed and closed his eyes, thankful that that had been done. He was starting to fall asleep – or probably pass out – when the ringing of a phone pierced the air. Frowning, he opened his eyes and looked at Grace, who had gone as white as a sheet. Then before Steve could say anything, Grace bolted.

Steve blinked after her dumbly, not moving a muscle. He couldn’t believe the sweet, young girl had lied to him. But it shouldn’t have been that hard to believe.

“Fuck,” he muttered. There was no way he could chase after the girl, but he couldn’t stay here.

He slowly stood up and dropped his pants. He picked up a set of pants from the table and held them up, realising then that it’d been board shorts he’d grabbed. Internally shrugging, he quickly stepped into them. He changed his top as well, then stuffed everything from the table into the ‘I love Hawaii’ bag. Everything except the orange jumpsuit. That could stay here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	7. Chapter 7

Steve tried to put as much distance as humanly possible between himself and the warehouse. But he’d only just turned onto the main road again when he heard the sirens. He knew that this time, they wouldn’t just keep going. And he’d never been so pissed to be right. It’d take a miracle to outrun them this time.

He glanced in the rear-view mirror as a third cruiser joined the other two. Steve floored the accelerator and was happy to see the cars drop back a bit. He weaved in and out of the lane, overtaking other cars and trucks. But the cruisers remained with him.

Steve cursed; he was going to have to get creative. He took the next turn off the main road at speed, skidding around the corner. He gunned the engine and took off down the road. The road was in a bad state of disrepair, littered with potholes and cracked asphalt. But it didn’t slow Steve down. He navigated the road, avoiding the holes and cracks as best as he could. 

Then in the distance, he noticed a railway crossing and his heart sank as the lights started flashing. Not for the first time, he floored the accelerator, hoping he’d make it to the crossing before the train. If he didn’t, it would be game over. But he wouldn’t be taken alive. He couldn’t go back to that goddamned cell.

The barriers lowered, but Steve didn’t slow down. He passed a set of trees that had been blocking his view, then he saw the train. It was a freight train, so not something that would stop in a hurry.

He urged the car to go faster. This was going to be close.

He went on the wrong side of the road to avoid the barrier and yelled as he finally flew across the crossing. Time went in slow motion as he cleared the crossing. He missed the train by a matter of inches.

Then time went back to its normal speed and the car broke through the opposite barrier. He didn’t slow down, knowing that even though he’d evaded his captors here, there would be cops coming from the other direction and it was only a matter of time before they caught up to him.

He took the next turn off the disused road onto another dirt track. He couldn’t remain on the other road; it was the equivalent of running in a straight line when you were getting shot at. It was just a bad idea, and it wouldn’t end well for you.

Steve took another two turns. He pictured where he was on the map, and if he was right, he would be coming up on Haleiwa soon. The perfect place to switch cars. This one had served its purpose and he silently thanked ‘Danno’. He hoped Grace had been picked up by one of the good cops, but he couldn’t be sure and the guilt weighed heavily on him. But there was nothing he could do about it now.

********************************

Danny jumped out of the squad car before it came to a stop. “Grace!” he yelled, running into the warehouse with his weapon drawn. He hadn’t expected to find anyone in there, but he and two other officers still cleared the place.

He stumbled to a stop when he saw the blood. Then he ran to the table and inspected the blood, as though he could tell from just looking at it whether it belonged to his one and only daughter. His lunch nearly made a reappearance when he saw Grace’s bracelet on the ground.

The discarded orange prison jumpsuit and empty bottle of vodka on the table, did nothing to alleviate his worries.

“GRACE!!!” he bellowed, terrified that he’d lost his girl. He looked frantically around the warehouse, then ran outside.

He fumbled with his phone and called Grace’s number. His hands were shaking so badly that he had to try twice to find Grace’s number, nearly hanging up on the call before it connected. Finally, it started ringing and Danny held his breath as he waited.

The sound of a pop song filled the air from somewhere in the long grass and Danny bolted towards it. “GRACE!!!” he roared as he ran.

“DANNO?!” he finally heard back.

“Grace!!!” Danny called.

“Danno!!!” Grace called back, then crash tackled him.

Danny held on to her for dear life. He scooped her up and hugged her so tightly, he was afraid she’d stop breathing. He put her down and knelt next to her to inspect her for injuries, “Are you okay? What happened? Are you injured?”

“I’m okay, Danno, I’m okay,” Grace replied, hugging him again, “I wanna go home.”

Danny scooped her up again and carried her towards the squad car. He blinked away tears and asked the question he didn’t want to ask, “Did he hurt you?”

“No,” Grace told his shoulder.

“You know you can tell me if he did, right?” Danny pressed.

“I know,” Grace talked into his shoulder again.

Danny took a shaky breath, and asked a final time, just in case, “There was blood in the warehouse, sweety. Was that yours?”

“No Danno, it was his,” Grace answered, “His tummy was bleeding.”

“It was, huh?” Danny asked, feeling relieved for the first time since this had started.

“It was really bad,” Grace told him, “He was going to take me home.”

Danny frowned, the feeling of worry making another appearance, “To his home?”

“No, to mine,” Grace replied.

Danny continued frowning, wondering what that meant. But he wasn’t going to ask Grace, she’d been through enough.

“Detective,” Officer Kalakaua got his attention as he approached the squad car, “Your vehicle’s been located.”

“Is it still drivable?” Danny asked, he had his doubts.

The officer frowned at him, “Well it’s in one piece and it hasn’t been set on fire, if that’s what you mean?”

Danny nodded as he put Grace back on the ground, “It is. Would you mind giving us a lift to it?”

The officer smiled, “Of course.”

“Thanks,” Danny responded, climbing into the back of the car with Grace. Normally, he didn’t like riding in the back, but he didn’t want to let Grace out of his sight, even if she was in the backseat.

Officer Kalakaua drove them up to Haleiwa. She was one of the new recruits, which usually meant they were given plenty of scope to make mistakes. But there was something about this officer that meant she’d fucked up really badly very early, or there was some bad history somewhere. She was always given the worst tasks, never given a fair go at anything. It was sad to see that a police force could come so far, yet not far enough.

The officer parked behind another cruiser and let them out of the back, “Follow the crowd,” she told them, then left.

Danny picked Grace up and followed the trail of police officers and vehicles to a cordoned off area of a carpark. He stared at his car, waiting for the other shoe to drop. It looked fine; it was in one piece and wasn’t damaged at all. And as Officer Kalakaua said, it wasn’t on fire.

“Hey, Officer… Gibbs, I’m Detective Williams, that’s my car,” Danny said, showing the man his badge.

“I got told no one goes in until CSU finish up,” Gibbs replied.

“Fine, let us grab some stuff,” Danny responded, then ducked under the tape. He set Grace down as they approached the car, but again, nothing seemed out of place. But maybe that was the point. 

He went to the back of the car, where the trunk had already been raised. The only thing that looked to be missing was the medical bag, which gelled with what Grace said. Danny picked up his day bag and Grace’s, then took his keys off the dashboard. He took one last look at the car, silently groaning when he noticed the large blood stain on the front seat, that wouldn’t be easy to get out.

“Tell the department to call me when I can get the car back,” Danny told Gibbs, “I’m talking my daughter and going home.”

“Sure thing,” Gibbs agreed, then added, “I bet when you woke up this morning, you didn’t think you’d have your car stolen by Steve McGarrett.”

“Who’s Steve McGarrett?” Danny asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	8. Chapter 8

**29 March 2012  
**

“Steve John McGarrett,” Captain Pilipo Kaleo announced to the department, indicating the mug shot on the wall behind him, “Son of Detective John McGarrett and also his murderer. He broke out of Halawa yesterday, after his transport to hospital was hijacked. Then, thanks to Detective Danny Williams, he was able to evade capture.”

Some of the officers and detectives glanced at Danny, and he heard the distinct _Haole_ whispered, but it wasn’t clear who said it.

“He’s now number 1 on Hawaii’s most wanted list,” the Captain continued, “I want him found! He can’t have gone far. He’s still on this rock. Find him.”

The officers talked among themselves for a minute, then the Captain turned to the Sergeant in charge of patrols, “Rick, this is your show. Williams, with me.”

Danny followed the Captain to his office, taking a seat when the man indicated that he should.

Kaleo sighed heavily, then asked, “How’s the family, Danny?”

Danny shrugged, “Well Grace is just happy to be alive. She ah, she said McGarrett thinks he’s innocent and she believes him.”

“They all think they’re innocent,” Kaleo told him as though that was news to Danny.

“Yeah, I know. That’s what I said,” Danny responded.

“And your wife?” Kaleo asked.

“Ex-wife,” Danny corrected, then spread his arms, “She’s furious, of course.”

“You should go home, Danny, spend some time with the family,” Kaleo finally said.

“The family? You mean my ex-wife’s family? Mmm, yeah sure, Cap, I can definitely see myself sitting around watching Rachel play happy families and making ‘goo’ ‘gah’ faces at their new child!” Danny snapped, before he could stop himself, “No, I’d prefer to help find this guy and put him back behind bars.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Detective,” Kaleo replied.

“I know you don’t. But when you hired me, you said you wanted a set of fresh eyes in this place. Let me do that here! Please. I mean, McGarrett thinks he’s innocent. Let me take a look back through the investigation and figure out where he’ll go next,” Danny responded.

“You mean you want to reopen the investigation to find out if he’s right?” Kaleo asked, and that edge was back in his voice.

“I didn’t say that,” Danny replied with a sigh. He scrubbed a hand over his face, “I’m saying that if he’s still going on about being innocent, maybe he’ll try to prove it. If I follow the investigation, maybe I’ll find him. I mean, it can’t hurt, right?”

Kaleo considered his request, then finally nodded, “Okay, do it. But you report back to me.”

“Yes, Sir,” Danny responded as he stood up. He nodded his thanks at Kaleo and left the office.

****************************

Danny rubbed a hand over his face and looked back at the stack of folders on his desk. He’d been over everything. Twice. There didn’t appear to be any loose ends, which was unusual. There was something about this case that just didn’t add up. A bust was never this clean.

The case painted a very clear picture of McGarrett. Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett had been devastated after his best friend, Lieutenant Freddie Hart, had been killed in action in South Korea. There were hints that the two shared more than just friendship, but it was only hinted at.

Danny shook his head at the military, _damned Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell_.

The two SEALs had been hunting the Hesse brothers at the time. McGarrett had rightfully blamed them for Hart’s death, but the Irish brothers had evaded capture. McGarrett had taken his friend’s death hard and had become obsessed on bringing the brothers to justice. But the Navy had different ideas. They’d taken him off the case and forced him to take some leave to deal with his problems.

McGarrett clearly disagreed and had been found trying to get intelligence on the brother’s whereabouts. His C.O. – Commander Joe White – had disciplined him but had walked away with a black eye. There was nothing in the report about the assault, but the Navy was good at sweeping problems under the rug. McGarrett had been put on mandatory leave, pending a performance evaluation, and told to see a shrink.

The guy had clearly been hurting, but for whatever reason, he hadn’t gotten the help he needed. After that, McGarrett had fallen off the Navy’s radar. Then he’d turned up in Hawaii, apparently still trying to locate the Hesse brothers, but this time, without the Navy’s backing. 

There was a week and a half that was unaccounted for before the day of John McGarrett’s murder. That morning, Steve McGarrett had driven to a lookout and bashed the hell out of his car. Forensics thought he’d used an axe, but they weren’t sure. There hadn’t been much to go on. Not after McGarrett had set the car on fire. Forensics could only say that the car had sustained massive structural damage prior to the fire. 

The axe was never recovered. But the forensic analyst had testified that it could have been left in the car, and all they’d have been able to find would have been the head. Not that that had been found. It was speculation. The other popular theory was that McGarrett had taken the axe with him, to go on a rampage. But there was nothing to back that up either.

After setting his car alight, McGarrett had walked for an hour along the Kamehameha highway, before walking into the middle of the road and pointing a handgun at Mr. Ted Glenbrook. Glenbrook had let McGarrett take the car out of fear for his life. He said McGarrett had appeared wild, deranged. McGarrett had been yelling down his phone and wildly waving his gun around.

Glenbrook later told HPD officers that McGarrett had been threatening to hunt someone down and kill them. And he’d definitely called the person on the other end of the phone ‘dad’. 

Danny frowned and put a star next to his note about the phone call. When someone was upset or angry with their parents – to the point of being homicidal – they usually didn’t use the term of endearment that ‘dad’ conveyed. No, instead they tended to use their parent’s first name or some other term that nobody would confuse as an endearment. Surely McGarrett would have called his father ‘John’ or ‘asshole’ or something…

Glenbrook had said he was too afraid to testify, so his story had never been cross-examined. A quick check of the man’s records showed that he’d overdosed three weeks ago.

After acquiring the car, McGarrett had sped to his father’s house. He’d been picked up three times on the drive over; two red light cameras and a speeding camera. Whatever the reason, McGarrett hadn’t wasted time going slowly. The DA had tried to say he was in the middle of a homicidal rage.

John McGarrett had defended himself against his son, but he was no match for Steve. John had managed to get a shot off, hitting Steve in the shoulder. But Steve had come out on top and executed his father. Single shot to the head. John McGarrett would have been dead before he hit the floor. 

HPD arrived four minutes later, finding McGarrett kneeling next to the body, his gun still in his hand. The guy must have run out of energy at that point because he allowed himself to be arrested.

The medical examiner had determined that the gunshot wound had been what killed John McGarrett. And forensics matched the slug pulled from the body to McGarrett’s weapon.

The only slug that hadn’t been recovered was still in McGarrett’s shoulder. The man had refused medical treatment after his arrest, but it was suspected that if the bullet ever came out, it would be matched to John McGarrett’s handgun. 

End of story. The only thing that would give it a neater ending would be if an eyewitness came forward. 

Eleven months later, Steve McGarrett was found guilty of his father’s murder. Two months later, he was sentenced to death by lethal injection. McGarrett had spent the next five months fighting the conviction in the appeals court, but the latest rejection had been the final one. And to add insult to injury, the appeals court had reduced his remaining time to just three months.

Danny threw the file he was holding back on the desk and stood up. So much for following the trail of evidence and catching up with McGarrett. He picked up the file of McGarrett’s first interview again and reread the transcript, not that there was much to go on. The guy had only uttered four words during the entire interview; ‘ _I want my lawyer_ ’.

Danny sighed and checked out the name of the interviewing detective, Chin Ho Kelly. Well at least that was somewhere to start. A quick check of the database showed that Kelly had been let go during the McGarrett case and now worked at a shop in Pearl Harbour.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	9. Chapter 9

Kelly was finishing up with a customer when Danny walked in to the shop in Pearl Harbour. When Kelly saw him, he smiled, “Aloha detective, how can I help you today?”

Danny grinned back at him, “What gave me away?”

“Actually, the tie. Then I saw your badge,” Kelly responded, “You’re the haole they imported from the mainland, right?”

“Yeah, that’s correct,” Danny replied, at least this guy had the guts to call him names to his face.

“What can I help HPD with?” Kelly asked.

“I’m sure you’ve heard that Steve McGarrett escaped from Halawa yesterday. You worked his father’s murder eighteen months ago,” Danny responded.

“Yeah,” Kelly answered, “Sorry, was there a question in there?”

Danny shrugged and spread his arms, “Well uh, why don’t we start with why you were pulled off the investigation?”

This time, it was Kelly’s turn to shrug, “I disagreed with the Lieutenant’s interpretation of events.”

“Okay, and what interpretation was that?” Danny asked.

“I believed Steve was telling the truth, he didn’t kill his father,” Kelly replied.

“Wait, hold up a minute. What do you mean he was telling the truth? He said all of three words during the interview,” Danny asked, “He demanded his lawyer.”

Kelly frowned at him, “What? No way, brah. He explained the whole thing and it sounded plausible. It was all recorded, it’ll be on the tapes!”

“Tapes? As in plural? No, there wasn’t even _one_ tape. Only a transcript and it’s a uh, it’s a very short read,” Danny replied.

Kelly sighed heavily and leant against the counter. He looked like he wanted to volunteer something, but he held himself back. “Well that’s disappointing to hear,” he finally said, “Look ah, is there anything else? I really need to get back to work.”

“Yeah, of course. I mean, anything else you can tell me about the case?” Danny asked.

“We got a ballistics match before I left, to a suspected weapons dealer, Fred Doran. Doran also had ties to what we suspected was a human trafficking ring, but we didn’t have enough to get a warrant. I wanted to bring in the ringleader, Sang Min, for questioning, but my _integrity_ was called into question,” Kelly responded, “And you know how the rest of that story goes.”

“Sang Min, huh?” Danny confirmed, “Okay, and ah, did McGarrett know about any of this?”

Kelly shrugged, “I don’t know, man. He got a copy of the investigation for his appeal, but it sounds like it was a little light on details.”

“A little?” Danny parroted back incredibly, “That’s an understatement. None of that was in the case file!”

Danny took a deep breath and looked around the shop, he got the feeling he was being watched. He turned back to Kelly, “When was the last time you saw McGarrett?”

“I haven’t seen him since the interview, eighteen months ago,” Kelly responded.

“Hmmm, okay,” Danny said, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips. He’d just been lied to. “You know I can arrest you for obstruction, right?”

Kelly wordlessly stared back at him and folded his arms, as if in challenge.

Danny raised his eyebrows and gestured to the back room, “Okay, you don’t mind if I take a look back there, huh?”

“Employees only,” Kelly told him.

A sound from the back room had Danny drawing his weapon and moving forward anyway, “Is that right?”

“There’s no one back there,” Kelly called after him.

Danny ignored the former detective and went into the room. It was clear the room was empty, but he had no doubt he’d just missed McGarrett. He ran to the backdoor and looked out at the crowd of tourists. He scanned the crowd, but nobody stood out. Everyone was just meandering around the attraction, going about their business. 

Danny sighed and holstered his weapon. He went back into the shop front and saw Kelly calmly watching him.

“Told you there was no one there,” Kelly commented.

Danny stopped in front of the guy and pointed at him, “If I find out he was here, I’m charging you with aiding and abetting.”

****************************************

Steve wandered through the carpark, looking over his shoulder periodically to make sure the detective wasn’t following him. He hitched the ‘I love Hawaii’ bag further up his shoulder and tried the door of one of the cars. When it didn’t budge, he continued walking. He stopped every few cars to try their doors. 

He thought about the detective that had visited Chin and wondered how the hell the guy had caught up with him so quickly. This guy was smart, he’d have to watch out for him. And especially now that Chin had shared the same intel with the cop that he’d told Steve earlier. They’d be trying to go to the same places, but to do different things. 

There was one good thing though. Steve had already seen Doran, which meant he was one step ahead of the detective. He just hoped the detective didn’t decide to see Sang Min first.

Steve stopped at another blue pickup and wasn’t surprised to find the door was locked. But instead of continuing around the carpark, he hit out the window with his elbow and let himself in. He couldn’t waste any more time, he had to get moving again. 

He peeled out of the carpark and headed in the direction Chin had pointed him in to find Sang Min. Hopefully he could get the information he needed before the detective arrived.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	10. Chapter 10

Danny was halfway to Doran’s address when he heard that someone had beaten him there. The code 10-79 - _notify the coroner_ \- had just gone over the scanner for Doran’s address. 

“Shit,” Danny muttered, turning his sirens on and stepping on his accelerator. McGarrett must have beaten him to Doran and executed him. He was cleaning up loose ends.

Danny grabbed the radio, “Yeah, this is Williams. Be advised, address is related to the 10-98.”

Hopefully, the responding officers would read between the lines and search the area for the escaped prisoner. 

_“Williams, operator 10-21.”_ Sounded over the radio.

Danny sighed and grabbed his phone, of course they wanted him to call. He pressed speed dial #4 and listened to the dial tone.

“This is Williams,” Danny answered when the phone was picked up.

“Danny, it’s Elaine. Can you clarify the 10-98?” 

Danny smiled, he liked Elaine. He’d taken her on a date a few months ago, but things hadn’t worked out. Thankfully, they’d managed to remain friends. “Yeah, I got a lead that Doran may’ve been linked to John McGarrett’s murder. His address is the 10-79. Steve McGarrett must’ve gotten to him before me.”

There was a pause on the other end for a moment, then Elaine responded, “There was a 9-1-1 call from the address an hour ago. The caller advised that he’d performed a citizen’s arrest on two individuals in the house; one male and one female. He had restrained the two occupants, but couldn’t stay.”

“A citizen’s arrest?” Danny asked, “What for?”

“The caller said he’d found a young girl tied up in a closet and suspected the occupants were involved in a human smuggling operation,” Elaine responded.

“Okay, uh, an hour ago? Why’d it take so long for officers to respond?” Danny asked.

“First responders had nearly arrived when the call was cancelled. The caller said he’d just got confused, it was all just a big misunderstanding; the family were playing hide-and-seek,” Elaine told him.

“Hide-and-seek,” Danny parroted back, “With restraints?”

Danny could hear Elaine shrug as she responded, “He said he was mistaken, the girl was just wearing an intricate bracelet.”

“You don’t believe that, do you?” Danny asked.

“No,” Elaine replied, “But I didn’t take the call. We cancelled the call, but got re-responded about five minutes ago. A female caller dialed the hotline and reported seeing two bodies through the window of the trailer.”

Danny sighed, then frowned, “Wait, two?”

“I know what you’re thinking, Danny, but no. Slade and Robertson reported three bodies when they arrived,” Elaine responded, “They were executed, bullet to the forehead.”

“Great,” Danny muttered, “Hey, how many units you got heading there?”

“Another three,” Elaine replied, then told him what he’d already figured out, “You don’t need to respond, Danny.”

Danny turned off his lights and sirens and pulled to the side of the road, “Okay, you let me know if there’s any sign of McGarrett there, okay? I’ve gotta follow up on another lead. Hopefully I can beat him there.”

“Okay, take care, Danny,” Elaine told him, then hung up.

Danny tossed the phone onto the passenger seat and brought up a list of addresses related to Sang Min. He quickly read the descriptions of the places, before choosing the most likely place. He typed it into his navigation and got back on the road. His tyres screeched as he conducted a U-turn at speed.

******************

Danny knew two things as soon as he entered the building; he had the right place and McGarrett had beaten him here. Sang Min’s guards were lying unconscious all over the place. Danny quickly cleared the place, realising that he’d missed the fugitive yet again. But at least he’d left him a gift this time. Danny holstered his weapon and approached the man who was tied to a chair and gagged. 

“Rough day, Sang Min?” Danny asked, ripping the tape off the man’s mouth.

“And what are you? Huh? Good cop?” Sang Min asked.

“What are you talking about?” Danny asked, standing back to put his hands on his hips.

“I’m talking about your partner, dangling me off the roof!” Sang Min exclaimed 

Danny closed his eyes for a moment, he was going to kill McGarrett when he finally met up with him. He took a deep breath and leveled his gaze at the man, “Okay. Uh, firstly, McGarrett isn’t a cop, he’s a fugitive. Secondly, you’re gonna tell me everything you told him, okay? What did he wanna know?”

Sang Min gave him a look similar to how Danny would look at a cockroach, “I ain’t telling you nothing, cop!”

Danny held up his hand to stop the other man from talking some more, “Okay, so that’s a double negative. It uh, they cancel each other out, you understand?”

“So?” Sang Min asked.

“I mean, you effectively just told me you’d tell me,” Danny responded, with a smile. But his new friend just spat on the ground. Some things were just lost on some people. Danny spread his arms again, “Let me ask you something, uh, you think McGarrett’s the only one who’ll hang you off a roof to get information?”

“You can’t do that! You’re a cop!” Sang Min exclaimed.

“Detective,” Danny corrected, “And ah, I’m hunting a killer. He’s already killed four people. You really think I’m gonna let a schmuck like you get in my way?”

Sang Min regarded him for a moment, before finally capitulating, “He wanted to know about Victor Hesse, okay? He wanted to know how I was getting him off the island.”

“Victor Hesse?” Danny asked with a frown, “He’s one of the Irish terrorists McGarrett was tracking down, right? He’s here in O’ahu?”

“He’s been here for over a year and a half,” Sang Min replied.

Danny raised his eyebrows, “Okay, and how are you getting him off the island?”

“Chinese freighter ship, down at the docks,” Sang Min responded, “You better hurry, man, if you want to catch up to your friend.”

“How long ago did he leave?” Danny asked.

“You just missed him,” Sang Min replied, with a smile.

**********************

As Danny sped towards the docks, he considered radioing for back up. He was 90% certain he’d run into McGarrett on the boat, and the more officers that attended, the higher their chances of getting the guy and putting him back where he belonged. But he didn’t want to spook the guy and send him running again. 

Danny left his sirens off, not wanting to announce his presence as he entered the docklands. He found the Chinese freighter pretty quickly and realised McGarrett was on board, if the pickup truck on board and shooting was anything to go by. 

Danny shook his head at himself as he drove up the ramp and came to an abrupt stop behind the pickup. He jumped out of his car and drew his weapon. Then he started moving in the direction of the gunfire. 

There was guy trapped between the pickup and a shipping container; it was clear the guy wouldn’t be alive much longer, if he was at all. The gunfire had stopped, replaced by the sounds of a fight. Danny came across another two bodies, before someone started firing at him. Danny fired back, hitting the shooter in the chest. 

He moved forward stealthily, then saw the fugitive fighting another man on the top of one of the shipping containers. It looked like McGarrett was winning, until the other man hit him so hard that McGarrett fell to the ground. He got straight back up though and continued fighting. But again, the other man got in a lucky hit, which sent McGarrett flying off the container and onto the windscreen of the car below.

“HPD, FREEZE!” Danny yelled, running to get to the fugitive.

But the man McGarrett had been fighting with had other ideas, shooting at Danny. Danny ducked behind a container and shot back. Then McGarrett joined in the firing. The man stumbled back and fell off the container, but it was unclear who’d hit him.

McGarrett jumped up from the car and Danny ran forward with his weapon still out. “McGarrett! Freeze! Put your weapon down!” Danny shouted at him. 

McGarrett glanced at him for a moment, but ignored his warning and jumped back up onto the shipping container. Danny fired at him, clipping the man’s arm. 

Danny waited for McGarrett to fire back at him, but the man rolled out of sight. He kept his weapon up and ran to the car, getting up the same way McGarrett had. By the time he got to his feet again, McGarrett was stepping back from the edge of the container as though he was getting a run up to jump into the water.

“Hey!” Danny yelled at him, “Stop!”

But McGarrett took off, running towards the water. Danny yelled again, then ran after him. He dived towards him, crashing into the other man in mid-air. But his aim was off and his head hit something hard. The last thing he saw before the world went black was the water rushing up to meet him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	11. Chapter 11

Steve broke back up through the water barrier and gasped heavily. He hadn’t expected the small, blond detective to crash tackle him as he jumped. But he couldn’t dwell on that now. 

He desperately looked around for Victor, but there was no sign of him. In fact, there was no sign of anyone. He searched the water again, wondering why the hell the detective hadn’t surfaced yet.

Steve took a deep breath, ignoring the pain in his side, and dove under the water. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to find that blonde. He grabbed the guy and pulled him to the surface, then dragged the unconscious man to a ladder to the dock.

Getting the blonde up the ladder was not an easy task, the detective was bigger than he looked, but Steve managed it. He finally got the man onto the dock and started CPR. He couldn’t have this guy die on him. Not that an extra mark to the going tally on the official docket would have counted for much. 

Finally, after what felt like years, the blonde coughed. Steve quickly rolled the guy onto his side, “That’s it, buddy, cough it up,” he told him.

As if that was his cue, the detective coughed up a bunch of water. Then he let out a pitiful moan and rolled onto his back.

Steve wiped his face and looked around the docklands, wondering where the man's backup was. “You're going to be okay, man,” Steve told him, feeling relieved that that was true, but also cautious. He couldn't trust this guy, he was HPD, which meant he could've had something to do with his father's murder. 

The detective groaned but started coming back to himself. He coughed again, then wheezed, “You’re under arrest.”

Steve chuckled despite the situation, but he didn’t let his guard down, as soon as the detective recovered enough, he'd try to get the upper hand again. “You right-handed?” Steve asked.

“What?”

But Steve didn’t need to repeat himself, he could see the answer to the unasked question. Cops put their gun holster on their dominant side, whilst their handcuffs lived on the other side of their belt. Steve softly removed the handcuffs from the detective’s belt, then quickly handcuffed the man’s wrist to a ring on the dock.

“What’re you doing?” the detective asked.

“Sorry _Danno_ , I just don’t trust you,” Steve responded.

The blonde swallowed hard, “Only my daughter calls me that. You’re going to pay for what you did to her.”

“I didn’t do anything, man,” Steve told her sternly, “I didn’t even know she was in the car until we were half-way down the road! I couldn’t just leave her there, okay? She woulda ended up dead or worse.”

“Oh, and that’s something you care about?” the detective asked.

“Look buddy, you don’t have to believe me,” Steve told him, then looked down the docks to see if there was any sign of the detective’s friends arriving.

“Who was the guy you were fighting with?”

“Victor Hesse, he killed my father,” Steve responded, looking back at the blonde.

“That’s a pretty big accusation, both of the man’s identity and of him killing John McGarrett,” the blonde told him, then coughed again. When he regained his breath, he asked, “You got any proof?”

Steve nodded, “Getting it. Fred Doran can tell you he sold weapons to Victor, his brother, Anton, and a few of his merry men several days before Victor killed my father.”

“Doran’s dead,” the blonde accused him.

“What? No, no, no, I saw him like, an hour ago, he was alive when I left,” Steve told him.

“Look, why don’t you let me take you in? We can get this sorted out, okay?” the man asked.

Steve shook his head, “Forget it. The last time I trusted the HPD, I got framed for murder! I’m a little low on trust right now. The only way you’re bringing me in, is in a body bag. Now, someone would’ve called in the gunfire by now, so help should be on the way, okay? I’ll stay as long as I can.”

The blonde blinked at him in confusion, “Why’re you helping me?”

“I’m just making sure someone doesn’t kill you before the paramedics get here,” Steve replied, “People who meet me have a habit of dying.”

“You’re delusional,” the detective told him.

“You wanna take the chance I’m right?!” Steve exclaimed, “You wanna take the chance that your daughter – Grace, right? – you wanna take the chance that she’ll grow up without her Danno?”

“You have no right to say her name,” the blonde said, and Steve could see the guy was fuming. 

“That’s just fine,” Steve responded as he stood up, seeing the flashing blue and red lights in the distance, “I gotta go, your ride’s just down the road.”

“Wait, McGarrett,” the blonde tried to stall him.

“No buddy, I can’t stay here,” Steve interrupted, “You gotta watch your six, okay? They may be stupid enough to target you. And you need to put Sang Min in protective custody before they get to him. He can testify that he smuggled the Hesse brothers onto the island before my father’s murder.”

“My six? What are you talking about? Are you – ”

“Hey! I’m not gonna sit here and play 20 questions with you!” Steve snapped, then he backed up and looked around again. His chances of getting out of here were getting smaller the longer he stayed. He decided to cut his losses; he turned and ran.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	12. Chapter 12

Steve leant against the wall of the toilet cubicle and carefully lifted his shirt to inspect his wound. When he’d hit the water at the docks, the WoundSeal Powder had started dissolving. And now the stab wound had started bleeding again. He just wished that he’d had the forethought to grab the detective’s medical bag again before he’d left the docks. He was sure the man wouldn’t have gone back on the road without it.

He slowly and carefully took out the newspaper he’d stuffed the wound with, grunting with the pain. Then he repacked it with the paper towel that he’d grabbed from the dispenser before. It hurt like hell, but at least it would stop him from succumbing to the blood loss for a little while longer.

He left the stool and cleaned himself up a bit. He refused to look in the mirror; he couldn’t recognise the man that stared back at him anymore. 

After cleaning up, he left the bathroom and looked around the beach. He couldn’t stay here long, this place would be crawling with cops. He was just about to leave again when he saw a friendly face.

He allowed himself a small smile when he saw the ‘Waiola Shave Ice’ shopfront, with Kamekona’s smiling face looking back at him. He’d met the big guy whilst he was awaiting trial. Kame hadn’t said what he was in for, but had discussed his big plans once he was out.

_“Shave Ice, brah. That’s where the big bucks are at,” Kamekona told him as they sat out in the exercise yard._

_Steve laughed and shook his head._

_“Oh, you laugh now. You want in? I’ll give you 5%,” Kame offered._

_Steve tried to stop laughing, “Sorry man. Nah, I’ll pass. No, when I get out, I’ve my own plans.”_

_Kame nodded, “When you get out, look me up.”_

_“You sound like you’re getting out soon,” Steve asked, but it was more of a statement._

_“Always have a backup plan, bruddah,” Kame told him, nodding in agreeance with himself._

The big guy had helped Steve a lot when he’d first arrived at the lock-up, not that Steve had seen it that way. Steve had been too concerned with trying to get someone, anyone, to listen to him, and to get them to go after Victor Hesse. But his pleas had fallen on deaf ears.

When he’d finally stopped going down that road, he realised that someone had made a processing error. He should never have gone to a civilian corrections centre; he should have gone to military prison. But again, he couldn’t get anyone to listen.

Kame had gotten through to him in a way nobody else could. He didn’t know if it was the way the guy was incredibly chilled out or maybe it was that he’d stopped a couple of guys from attacking Steve, by just looking at them. Either way, Steve had learnt to trust the guy.

Steve tucked his pistol into the waistband of his pants and considered his next move. Whilst he still had the handgun he’d acquired from the shopkeeper; the impromptu swim wouldn’t have done it much good. It probably still functioned and just needed a good clean out, but he didn’t have the equipment, nor the time to clean it.

He watched from the shadows, making double, and then triple-sure that nobody else was around, before approaching the shop front.

“Kamekona!” Steve exclaimed, as he limped to the front counter, “Hey man!”

“McGarrett! Is that you?” Kamekona told him, “Howz’it, bruddah! Long time.”

“Yeah, man!” Steve responded, “Nice digs, I never doubted you for a second.”

“Next, I’m gonna get a shrimp truck,” Kamekona said, nodding at him.

“Nice. Well, I’ll be your first customer,” Steve responded, “Hey listen, ah, I need hooking up with some merchandise. There’s something I need to take care of, if you know what I mean. Can you help a guy out?”

“Sorry brah, I’m not into that no more,” Kamekona told him, “I’m legit now.”

“Oh? Uh, okay,” Steve said, then looked around the shop front again, “Okay, how about, can I grab a double scoop of the rainbow shave-ice and uh, one of those shirts.”

“Alright,” Kamekona said, nodding with a grin. He rang it up at the till, then announced, “That’ll be $35.”

“No problem,” Steve responded, then dug out one of the rolls of cash from his pocket that he’d taken from Sang Min. He put the roll of notes on the counter, then quickly looked around again.

“You overpaid brah,” Kamekona said as he looked at the cash, then said loudly, “I can’t help you with that.”

Steve stared at Kamekona in shock as he realised the other man thought he was wearing a wire, “Do I look like I’m working with the cops, man?” 

“You look like a cave-man,” Kame told him.

Steve rolled his eyes, then to ease the man’s suspicions, he lifted up his t-shirt so the big guy could see there was nothing there.

“Shootz,” Kamekona said, “You better come inside so we can discuss details.”

“Mahalo,” Steve responded, then went into the back of the shop.

Kame looked around again, then pulled the grill down on the shop front, before going into the back. “What happened to you, brah?” he asked, handing him a first aid kit.

“I think you already know,” Steve replied, tapping the front page of the newspaper that was sitting on the table.

“Oh yeah,” Kamekona said, looking briefly at the article, “I didn’t recognise you.”

Steve frowned and glanced at the images again. One of the images was the mug shot from when he’d been arrested, and the other was a close up of an image from the CCTV in the prison on one of the few times he’d gone outside for yard time. The second image was a lot more recent, showing him with scraggy, long hair and facial hair so long it made Gandalf’s look small.

Steve shook his head; it didn’t do to analyse that too hard. Instead, he put the first aid kit on the table and looked at its contents.

“So, what can I do you for?” Kame asked him.

Steve looked up, “Couple of handguns, 9mm, SIG Sauer P226 if you can get it. And uh, I need some information; where would a guy go if he needed medical attention – off the books?”

“That’s Sang Min’s thing, brah,” Kame told him, “I can get the weapons though, come back tonight, 7pm?”

“Sang Min’s been arrested, buddy,” Steve replied, “And I caught up with Victor Hesse, he’s still alive, but he’s injured. Badly. He’ll need a doc. I’ve gotta find him, man. He’s the only one who can clear my name.”

“Shootz, leave it with me,” Kame responded.

“Thanks man,” Steve replied, he held up the gauze to indicate as he asked, “Hey uh, you mind if I stay here a bit longer? I need to patch myself up.”

“Shower’s there, towel’s inside,” Kame told him, pointing to the small bathroom.

“I wasn’t really thinking – ”

“You stay here, you get washed. You stink, bruddah,” Kamekona told him in no uncertain terms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	13. Chapter 13

Steve flinched as the first drop of water hit his skin. It was the first time he’d showered in a couple of weeks, but it felt like years. He turned up the hot water and stood under the spray, bracing himself against the wall. It felt amazing. 

He watched the water run down drain. He wasn’t all that surprised when he saw that the water wasn’t clear, but murky. It was just visual evidence that he hadn’t been taking care of himself. 

The water turned red, reminding Steve that he was still bleeding pretty heavily and he couldn’t waste time resting on his laurels. He soaped himself up and tried not to think about the last time he’d showered. He couldn’t think about that now; those memories would only serve to slow him down.

_“Hey McGarrett!” the guard called._

_Steve hadn’t heard the guard enter the bathroom. He abruptly stopped massaging the shampoo into his hair and turned around. But he wasn’t quick enough; he turned straight into the guard’s fist._

_His head rocketed backwards into the wall, making him feel dazed. But he pushed through the feeling, and grabbed the guard’s fist when the man tried to hit him again. He hit the man’s elbow and twisted his arm the wrong way, hearing two pops. The guard screamed in pain as Steve broke his arm. But that wasn’t the end of the fight, it never was._

_Two other guards had entered the bathroom during the fight. Steve wiped his forehead to remove the shampoo that was falling into his eyes, making them sting, but more importantly, making it hard to see._

_One of the guards jumped towards him with his baton raised. Steve stepped to the side and used the man’s momentum to gain the advantage and throw him into the wall. But suddenly, there was an intense pain in his back, and he fell to the floor. It was then that he heard the crackling from the stun gun…_

Steve gasped and looked around wildly. It took him a moment to place where he was. It didn’t help matters that he was in a bathroom, and the vivid memory didn’t recede straight away. 

He quickly shut off the water and practically jumped out of the shower. He roughly dried himself and threw on the fresh set of clothes that Kamekona had leant him. The clothing was far too big, but it was only whilst the big guy washed what he’d come in in.

He caught a glimpse of his reflection in the mirror and stared at himself. This is what he’d become. Steve struck the mirror before he even realised he was moving. The action made him feel slightly better, except for the pain radiating through his bloodied fist. At least the shattered reflection was more accurate.

“You okay, brah?” Kame called through the door.

Steve took a deep breath and got himself under control again. He didn’t want his friend seeing him like this. He quickly checked himself again, then stepped out of the bathroom.

“Sorry, man,” Steve apologised, waving his hand at the bathroom, “I owe you a mirror.”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it. But I should charge you extra for the hospitality,” Kamekona told him.

“What’re you talking about?” Steve asked, as he slowly lowered himself into a chair by the table.

“The long shower,” Kame responded, then at Steve’s confused look, he added, “You were in there 20 minutes.”

Steve blinked at Kame in confusion, he never took that long to shower. The last time he’d spent more than three minutes in the shower was when he was 15 years old, before his father sent him to the Army and Naval Academy on the mainland.

_The set of boots came closer, then kicked him so hard that he lost his breath. Steve tried to curl into the foetal position, but the man kicked him again._

_“You’re going to regret breaking my arm, bitch!” the guard spat at him._

“McGarrett, you still with me, bruddah?” Kamekona’s voice pulled Steve from his reverie.

Steve took a shaky breath and nodded, “Yeah uh, I got it, okay? No more long showers.”

“You’re bleeding on my shirt, brah,” Kame told him, ignoring that Steve wasn’t as fine as he’d have the guy believe.

Steve sighed as he pulled up the shirt to look at his wound, “Got any alcohol?”

“You wanna beer?” Kame asked.

Steve snorted, “I’d love one, but I meant some vodka or something to clean this.”

Kame nodded and came back with a small bottle of cheap vodka, “This okay?”

“Perfect,” Steve responded, taking the bottle and placing it on the table next to the contents of the first aid kit. He sighed and glanced at his friend, “You don’t have to watch this if you don’t want to.”

Steve roughly thought that he should have said the same thing to Grace earlier. But as they said, hindsight was 20/20.

“S’cool, brah,” Kame replied, “I’ll make sure you don’t pass out.”

Steve huffed out a small laugh, but he appreciated the sentiment. Especially when he knew how much the big guy hated the sight of blood. 

This time he didn’t have the WoundSeal Powder, so he had to put his combat first aid skills to good use. It had been a while since he’d used them – nearly eighteen months ago to be exact. Except that when he’d last used them, he’d deliberately only done half the job. He’d left the bullet in his shoulder.

Steve uncapped the bottle of booze and took a healthy drink from it. The alcohol burned on its way down, but it’s just what he needed. Then he sterilised his wound, only allowing himself a grunt in acknowledgement of the pain. He took a moment to regain his breath, then started stitching himself up.

His hands were shaking by the time he’d finished, but at least it was done. He carefully put a piece of gauze over the wound and taped it down. 

“Grose,” Kamekona commented, but it wasn’t as though it was the first time the big guy had seen Steve’s medical skills in action.

Steve pulled his shirt down to cover the bandage and leant back against the chair. He was exhausted.

“You missed a bit,” Kame told him, indicating Steve’s arm, which was still bleeding sluggishly.

“That’s just a scratch,” Steve muttered. But Kame just crossed his arms and stared at him.

In the end, Kamekona made him stitch up the graze to his arm from where the detective had winged him, then had him clean up the various other cuts on his face and fist. By the time he was done, he was totally wiped out.

“I’ll just… I’ll get my…” Steve cleared his throat and tried to follow his train of thought to the logical conclusion, “My clothes must be ready. I’ll get changed and go.”

“Oh, small problem, little fry,” Kame told him.

“What problem?” Steve asked, giving him a confused look.

“Your clothes,” Kame responded, as though that answered the question.

“Yeah?” Steve prompted when it became obvious that his friend wasn’t going to add anything.

“I burned ‘em,” Kame answered, then nodded and added, “Yeah, you’re not getting them back.”

“You burnt them,” Steve parroted back.

Kamekona nodded, “You got sweet new robes now, brah.”

Steve sighed again; he didn’t have the energy the argue. “Okay, uh, I’ll see you in a few hours,” he said, slowly and carefully getting to his feet.

“This way,” Kamekona said, helping Steve to the couch, “Oh, stop here a minute. I’ll be back.”

Steve sat down, wondering what Kame had up his sleeve. The man was always up to something. He didn’t look like it, but every move he made was incredibly deliberate.

Steve leant back and closed his eyes as he waited, it never hurt to get comfortable. As he learnt in SEAL school; _why run, when you can walk. Why walk when you can stand. Why stand when you can sit. Why sit when you can lie down. Why lie down when you can sleep._

Sleep overtook him before he finished the mantra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	14. Chapter 14

Steve opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling in confusion. Something was different; the ceiling looked higher than normal. He frowned, wondering when he’d been moved to a different cell. But then it all came back and he remembered the events of the last 24 hours. 

He sighed, swinging his legs onto the ground and rolling into a sitting position. He needed to get moving and find Victor Hesse.

“Hey Kamekona,” he called, clearing his throat when it came out raspy.

But silence greeted his call. The big guy must’ve left to get his weapons. 

Then he heard the unmistakeable sound of a car pull up outside. Steve slowly got to his feet, staring at the door as he heard two car doors open and close. He grabbed his pistol from the table and pointed it at the door. If it was the HPD, he would go down shooting.

The door opened and Kamekona walked in. Steve relaxed for a fraction of a second, before another man walked in.

“Whoa, hey brah, there’s no need to be like that,” Kame said to him.

“What did you do? What’s he doing here?” Steve asked, indicating his lawyer with his gun. “Did you come alone?” he asked, looking over Odell’s shoulder before the man closed the door.

“We didn’t call HPD if that’s what you mean, Steve,” Odell responded, holding his arms out to try to calm him down, “Why don’t you put the gun down, huh?”

Steve frantically looked around, trying to figure out what to do, “I’m not going back there. I can’t go back.”

“I wouldn’t expect you’d want to,” Odell said calmly, trying to placate him.

“What’re you even doing here, Odell? Davis said you had some kinda family emergency,” Steve demanded.

“Davis? He came to see you?” Odell asked, lowering his arms, “He’s bad news, Steve, and he was lying to you. I had no family emergency; I was told you’d renounced me as your lawyer.”

“What?” Steve asked, lowering his weapon a fraction.

“Why don’t you put the gun down so we can talk, huh? I can do something about your hair whilst I catch you up, what do you call that look anyway? Are you trying out for a Tom Hanks lookalike contest?” Odell asked.

Kamekona laughed and nodded, “Yeah, from Castaway.”

Steve slowly lowered his weapon and tucked it into the waistband of his pants again. “It’s not that bad, is it?” he asked.

“You seen a mirror lately?” Odell asked, then threw him a plastic bag, “Here, chuck those on, you look ridiculous.”

“What’re you calling ridiculous? Those are quality clothing, brah,” Kame interrupted.

Steve got changed as Odell lay out his hairdressing kit. Kame disappeared, saying he needed to sort out some business, leaving the two men to talk.

Steve slowly sit in the chair next to the table and commented flippantly, “Just shave it off, it’ll be fine.”

“Why don’t you let me worry about your hair, huh? Tell me what happened,” Odell responded as he poured some warm water into a basin.

Steve relayed the chain of events, speaking carefully as the other man gave him a close shave, getting rid of the horrible moustache and beard. As he finished up, he asked, “So, was Davis right? About my appeals being squashed? And the execution date being moved up to 6 months?”

“Yes about the appeal,” Odell responded, pausing the shave to watch his friend, “But no, Steve, your execution date was reduced to 3 months from now.”

“What’re you talking about?” 

Odell wiped the blade on the towel on his shoulder, then grabbed the newspaper that was lying on the table. He unfolded it and tapped the article at the front, “Three months, Steve, see here? It’s an election year, the Governor wants to send a message. She wants to show that she’s tough on crime and that killing a cop won’t be tolerated.”

Steve read the portion of the article that Odell pointed at, then abruptly stood up, knocking over his chair. He threw the paper back on the table and paced back and forth in the small office. He threw his hands into the air in exasperation, “Three months! What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Well at least you can do more about it on this side of prison,” Odell commented, “Just… would you come back here and sit down?”

Steve silently sat down, trying not to let the hopelessness of his situation get the better of him. He wanted to curl up into a small ball and have a good cry. But he couldn’t do that, he needed to find Victor and clear his name. His part-time lawyer was right, his escape couldn’t have come at a better time.

“You’ll get more out of Victor if you bring him in alive, Stevie,” Odell told him, as he continued shaving him.

“I can prove that he was on the island when my father was killed, that’ll be enough,” Steve responded.

“It’ll be enough to throw a reasonable doubt on your conviction, but I don’t think it’ll be enough to get it overturned,” Odell argued, then handed him a warm cloth for his face.

Steve sighed into the cloth; the feel of his bare skin under the cloth felt amazing. Odell took the cloth when he was finished with it, then tapped his special after-shave on Steve’s face.

“Mahalo, Odell.” 

“Don’t thank me yet, I still need to fix up this mop you call hair,” Odell replied, then got started on it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	15. Chapter 15

“Did Mary have anything to do with moving my execution date?” Steve asked, he didn’t want to believe that she could have done it, but he needed to know. 

Odell shook his head, “No, relative’s have nothing to do with that side of things. They certainly don’t have the power to move an execution date.”

“Okay, well that’s good to know,” Steve responded, feeling a little bit better about things.

“Have you talked to your sister since the trial?” Odell asked, as he started cutting again.

“No, she left after the first day. Haven’t seen or heard from her since, not that I blame her,” Steve replied.

“It’s not your fault, Steve.” 

“Yes, it is,” Steve responded, “Listen, how’d you go with my case?”

“Just got dead ends and a large suspect list,” Odell told him, then he sighed, “I hope you like short hair, Steve, there’s not a lot I can do with this.”

“It’s fine, just shave it. Tell me about the leads,” Steve responded.

“Okay, so the last thing I told you about was Ted Glenbrook,” Odell started.

“Yeah, I remember. Davis said he OD’d three weeks ago,” Steve replied.

“Yeah, he did. But I got to him first, I’ve got a recorded conversation of him saying that he came across a large crash, involving a truck and a car, in the middle of the Kamehameha highway, just like you said. And that’s when you acquired his car. He corroborates your story, Steve, but it’s not enough. And now that he’s dead, we’d have a hard time getting it into evidence because he can’t be cross examined,” Odell explained, “He explained that his original testimony was bullshit; he was told to report that chain of events to HPD.”

“Did he say who told him?” Steve asked.

“No, he was afraid they’d kill him if he came forward,” Odell replied.

“Looks like he was right,” Steve commented, “What about my car?”

“The Forensic analyst testified at your trial that it had sustained massive structural damage before the fire and that you’d caused that damage in a fit of rage, with an axe. Now, the bad news is that your car was taken to a wrecking yard after you were convicted and destroyed that day,” Odell told him.

“Who ordered that?” 

“The same forensic analyst.”

“Sounds dirty.”

“You don’t know the half of it, but I’ll get to that. I sent the photos to an independent lab on the mainland and they said there was no way the damage could have been done by an axe. They said it was more likely that the damage was the result of a crash, the main impact point was probably the right rear end and the car rolled,” Odell reported, “She’s sitting on that for now because it’s still just circumstantial, at best.”

“Okay, but it’s something. What else?” 

“Well, let’s stick with the forensics for now. I wasn’t able to find the first ballistics report you told me about,” Odell responded.

“The one tying Fred Doran to the weapon?”

“Yeah, it’s vanished into thin air. There’s no evidence of that report anywhere. Someone in the department made it disappear.”

“Okay, so the forensic analyst?”

“Yes, the forensic analyst. He’s conveniently gone missing too,” Odell responded, “The only evidence that’d link back to Doran is in your shoulder.”

“I’m not taking it out, Odell, not until we know that the department has stopped leaking. They already implied that if they ever get their greedy little hands on it, it’ll match my dad’s handgun. But here’s the thing, I was shot with a rifle, it’s a completely different calibre,” Steve told him.

“I agree. Best that it stays where it is for the moment,” Odell replied. He took a breath and continued, “Phone records show you spoke to your father at 1057, HPD responded to the 911 call at 1144 and the first unit arrived on scene at 1149. The medical examiner arrived on scene at 1208 and put your father’s time of death within the previous 30 minutes.”

“He was cold when I got to him, Odell. I heard him die on the other end of the phone,” Steve told him, and he was ashamed to hear his voice shake. He couldn’t help but see his father’s dead body, staring lifelessly at the door, desperately hoping to be saved. “I couldn’t save him,” he said quietly.

Odell stopped cutting Steve’s hair to place his hand on Steve’s shoulder.

Steve nodded in thanks, “If only Anton hadn’t gone for the gun…”

“You can’t think like that, Steve,” Odell told him.

“But I would’ve found a way to rescue him. I would’ve made the exchange, man, I would’ve done it. I would’ve taken Anton back to Victor and let them go. I would’ve let them both go forever. I would even have traded places with my old man, I don’t care, I just… I would’ve done anything,” Steve said honestly. His eyes started to water as he spoke, but it wasn’t the first time his lawyer had seen him tear up. Not that he wanted to make this a habit. 

“And let Freddie’s death be for nothing?” Odell asked, “I know you don’t think that.”

Steve blinked rapidly, trying to stop his tears from falling. He needed to get a hold of himself before he admitted to how heavily the guilt over his father’s murder weighed on him. And now, the mention of Freddie’s death… That was his fault too. Another murder that he could have avoided. Another man that would still be alive if it wasn’t for Steve.

He cleared his throat and pushed the morose thoughts away. “How did you find me, anyway?” Steve asked.

“The big guy sent me a coded message, took a while to work out what he was trying to tell me,” Odell responded.

“Yeah, he did a course in cryptography when we were locked up,” Steve told him.

“He’s putting it to good use,” Odell responded, then dusted Steve’s neck off with a brush and handed him a mirror, “Okay, what do you think?”

Steve stared at his reflection for a long time, before running his fingers through his hair. His hair was a bit shorter than when he’d been booked, but he looked almost normal again. “Nice work, Odell, you should take this up full time,” Steve praised him.

“This is just a hobby, man,” Odell responded, “You like it?”

“Like it? No, I love it. I look like a completely new guy,” Steve replied.

Odell smiled and started cleaning up, “Do I wanna know how it got so bad in the first place?”

“You’re pretty switched on, man, I think you already know,” Steve answered.

“Does it have anything to do with the scars on your back?” Odell asked, “Don’t give me that look, buddy, I saw them when you got changed.”

Steve stood up and wiped the back of his neck, getting a few stray hairs. “Thanks for the cut, Odell,” he responded, avoiding the question.

That’s when Kamekona returned, saving Steve from further interrogation from Odell. Steve frowned when he saw the big guy was only carrying a pizza box.

“Uh, did you get the stuff, Kame?” Steve asked, putting his hands on his hips as his doubts took over again.

“No stress, bruddah,” Kame replied, opening the box to reveal the two handguns Steve had requested, plus a couple of clips.

Steve’s face relaxed as he saw the weapons, as least that was that sorted out. “Mahalo, Kame, I really appreciate this. Did you uh, get the other thing I asked about?”

Kame put the box on the table and held up a piece of paper, “Did some askin’ around, got a name and address.”

“That’s Sang Min’s guy? That’s his go-to doc?” Steve clarified, as he checked over the weapons.

“100%,” Kame responded, nodding at him.

“And he hooked Hesse up?” 

Kame shrugged, “I’m just the messenger.”

Steve nodded, “Mahalo, man. Hey, do you think you could uh, repurpose this?”

Steve took the pistol he’d been carrying and took it apart, placing the parts on the other side of the pizza box. “I mean, it’ll need a good clean up. I uh, I might’ve taken it for a swim, but it still works,” he explained.

“Sure thing, brah,” Kame answered.

Steve nodded and looked at the two men, possibly the only two friends he had left on the island. And Chin, of course. 

“What are you going to do, Steve? What’s the plan from here?” Odell asked.

Steve tucked one of the weapons into his waistband and fitted the other into the ankle holster that Kame had supplied. Then he sighed, “It’s probably best if you don’t know. You’ll be the first call I make when I’ve got something solid.”

“You can stay here longer, brah. Always welcome,” Kame told him.

“Nah man, I can’t stay. The cops’ll be keeping tabs on you both,” Steve responded.

Odell crossed the distance between them and clasped Steve’s hand and drew him into a one-armed hug, “Stay safe, man. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Mahalo,” Steve answered, then regarded him for a moment, “And you too. Someone’s cleaning up after me, getting rid of loose ends. If they think you know too much – ”

“I can take care of myself, Steve.”

“Alright. I just, I don’t wanna put you in any danger.”

“I’m in no more danger now than I was before,” Odell responded.

Steve nodded, then turned to Kame, “Same goes for you, big guy.”

Kamekona snorted, “They better watch out for me.”

Steve grinned and gave the man a hug, “I owe you, man.”

Kame shook his head, “Nah, brah, we’re even now.”

Steve took a deep breath, or at least as deep as he could manage without his stitches pulling. “Okay, I gotta go,” he said, then checked that the coast was clear, before leaving the relative safety of his former cell-mate’s shop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	16. Chapter 16

Danny rubbed at his chest as he sat on the edge of the hospital bed. He hadn’t been able to talk the paramedics out of bringing him to hospital, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t sign himself out now that he was here. 

He was pulling on his soaked shoes again when CAPT Kaleo walked in. Kaleo looked at him and put his hands on his hips, “Sounds like you’ve had quite the adventure today, detective.”

“Hey Cap, I was just about to call,” Danny responded, pouring some water out of one of his shoes.

“What part of keep me informed don’t you understand?” Kaleo asked angrily, “I’ve had officers all over the island cleaning up your mess all day! And what makes you think it’s okay to hang a man off the roof?! CPL Lukela spent an hour with Sang Min, trying to talk him out of pressing charges against you!”

“That wasn’t me, that was McGarrett,” Danny replied calmly, putting his shoe on and tying it up.

“And what about the whole debacle on the Chinese freighter ship?! I suppose that was all McGarrett too?! I don’t like taking phone calls from the Governor after one of my detectives causes an international incident!” Kaleo exclaimed.

“McGarrett was already onboard when I get there, Cap. What did you expect me to do when the thugs shot at me? I wasn’t – ”

“You should’ve waited for backup!” Kaleo interrupted.

“If I’d waited, McGarrett would already have disappeared again!” Danny exclaimed.

“Oh well, in that case, I’m happy to hear you didn’t wait,” Kaleo replied sarcastically, “Oh, but wait a minute, didn’t he escape again anyway?! You had plenty of time to call it in, detective, you just chose not to.”

“I didn’t know if he’d be there,” Danny defended his actions.

“I don’t wanna hear it. You’re off the case, Williams,” Kaleo told him, “Take some leave and spend some time with the family.”

“Come on, Sir, that’s not necessary – ”

“I’m not asking!” Kaleo interrupted him.

“Cap, I was so close to getting him, come on. I got closer than anyone else, I was one step behind – ”

“Yes, detective, _behind!_ A small tip for young players, you have to get _in front_ to catch a fugitive,” Kaleo interrupted him again, then held up his hand to forestall any arguments, “This isn’t a discussion! You’re on mandatory leave, effectively immediately!”

“Until when?” Danny demanded, finally standing up.

“Until I feel better about the situation!” Kaleo snapped. Then he sighed, “And don’t even think about trying to continue the investigation when you’re on leave, I’ll know about it and I don’t want to have to suspend you.”

“Fine,” Danny said, holding his hands up in surrender, “Fine.”

Kaleo nodded, then with a quick, “Hope you feel better soon,” he was gone.

Danny watched the man disappear and flopped back down on the bed. There was something off about that guy, but he couldn’t put his finger on what it was. He had a strong suspicion that he wasn’t being told everything. But more than that, he had a feeling that the Cap was somehow involved in this. And that the connection was something more than him being the lead investigator who’d put McGarrett away in the first place.

**********************************

**30 March 2012**

Steve parked his new ‘borrowed’ car down a side street and quickly approached the address Kame had given him. There was a car in the driveway of the house, meaning that hopefully the doctor- Frank Galey – was home. He glanced around to make sure nobody was around, then smoothly drew out his weapon and slipped down the side of the house.

After checking there was no one there, he kicked open the back door. He scanned the loungeroom, then the kitchen. He cleared the house, but no one was there. Sighing, he put the weapon away and properly looked around. It didn’t look like the guy had gone anywhere; he even had some fresh meat out in the kitchen, supposedly defrosting. Only it looked like it had been out for longer than that.

He went back to the garage and noticed bloodied rags in the bin. Hesse had been here, but it looked like he’d missed him. 

Steve shook his head and went to leave, hopefully he could find out where Hesse was holed up by checking out Galey’s study. But something caught his attention as he took a final look around the garage; a smudge of blood on the freezer. 

He frowned and crouched next to the big tub to examine the blood closer. He touched the mark and was surprised to find it was still wet.

Steve abruptly stood up and withdrew his weapon again. Then he slowly opened the lid, afraid of what he’d find. There was a body stuffed inside the box; a plastic bag over the guys head and the restraints around his wrists and ankles. 

Steve put his weapon away and leant into the box to take the guy’s pulse. He didn’t know how long he waited there, before he felt a slight flutter against his fingers.

Steve’s eyes widened as he realised the guy was miraculously still alive, but not for long. He yanked the guy out of the freezer and pulled the bag off his head, then started CPR in earnest. But after nearly 20 minutes, he realised it was useless. The man was gone. He pressed his fingers to Galey’s neck again, but nothing was there.

He knew he had an obligation to continue CPR until paramedics arrived to pronounced the man dead, but he knew they wouldn’t come alone. Moreover, he knew that they couldn’t do anything for Galey anyway. It wouldn’t even surprise him if he’d imagined the flutter of a pulse against his fingers, he’d been hoping for it too hard.

He took a deep breath; he couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Another man was dead, and he was no closer to Hesse. He wanted to hit something in frustration, but he didn’t know how long he had before someone turned up here, whether they be cops or someone to look after this mess.

Steve patted down Galey’s pockets until he found a cell phone. He hesitated for a moment, he didn’t want to dial 911. After what happened last time, he wasn’t sure who he could trust with this, but he still needed to call it in. Not to mention, he still wanted to check out the study. 

He stared at the phone, considering his next move. Then with a sense of clarity, it came to him. He dialled the number for the front desk at the HPD from memory. He couldn’t remember how many times he’d called the number when he was a child, back when mobile phones weren’t a thing.

“Hawaiian Police Department, Officer Smith here, how can I be of assistance?” the receptionist asked.

“Aloha Officer Smith, can you transfer me to one of the detectives there? He gave me his business card earlier, but I seem to have lost it,” Steve lied as he walked through the house to the study, “Danno? I think. He was the detective injured down at the docks.”

“You mean Detective Danny Williams?”

“Yeah, sounds right. Danny Williams,” Steve responded, filing the name away for future reference.

“Just a moment, please.” 

“Mahalo.”

Steve listened to elevator music whilst the call was transferred. He perched the phone on his shoulder as he rifled through Galey’s filing cabinet, the thing was a mess. There was no logical pattern to any of the papers inside. It made him want to spend the time to try to sort it out into a better system. Anything was better than this.

“Williams,” he finally heard the call answered, making him press pause on his more obsessive-compulsive habits.

Steve swallowed heavily, suddenly nervous. He hadn’t thought through what he needed to say to this guy. He decided to try to play it casual, “Hey Danno, good to hear you up and about again. You been discharged from hospital yet?”

“McGarrett?! And what did I tell you about calling me ‘Danno’?!”

Steve snorted, “Look, forget about getting someone to trace the call, I’m gonna tell you where I’m calling from in a minute anyway.”

“So kind of you,” the detective snarked, “So, what do you want? Are you going to turn yourself in?”

“I think we both know I can’t do that,” Steve responded, “Listen I traced Hesse’s movements after he disappeared from the freighter. He was hit pretty badly and would’ve needed medical attention, which he got from Frank Galey. You ready for his address?”

“Why are you telling me this? Why didn’t you just call 911, like a normal person?”

“Because, detective, Galey’s dead. And there’s evidence here that’ll prove Hesse came here too. Which means that it’ll disappear, or worse yet, it’ll get tampered with and tell a different story, pointing the finger at me, if I give that info to HPD,” Steve explained, with a patience he didn’t feel. He abandoned the filing cabinet and looked through the desk draws.

“What does that mean? You realise I am HPD, right?”

The comment made him pause, “Yeah, I know. I suppose I’m trusting your daughter’s judgement with this.”

He heard the detective sigh, “Give me the address, I’ve been taken off duty, so I can’t do anything, but – ”

“What do you mean ‘off duty’?” Steve interrupted, “Look, if I can’t trust you…”

He stopped talking and realised he didn’t know how to finish that sentence. He suddenly realised he didn’t have a lot of time before he needed to get out of here. He ran to the kitchen and raided the draws and cupboards for zip-locked bags.

“You still there, McGarrett?”

“I’m still here,” he confirmed, “Did you ever meet my dad?”

“No. I uh, I arrived here about 12 months ago. But I’ve heard stories, he sounded like he was a good man.”

“He was,” Steve confirmed as he ran to the garage and put one of the bloodied rags in the zip-locked bag, “He was great. And he wouldn’t have given up on a case before it was done. He wouldn’t have just stopped investigating because it got too hard or because the damned lieutenant or captain pulled him off the case. He always saw it through to the end.”

“What are you trying to say, McGarrett?” the detective demanded.

“I’m saying that if you’re as good a detective as your daughter thinks you are, you know that this doesn’t add up,” Steve stressed to the guy, gesturing as he spoke, even though the detective couldn’t see him, “Surely you can see that this doesn’t make sense. You don’t need to trust me, I’m not asking that. You’ve gotta open your eyes and see what’s really going on here.”

Silence greeted him and Steve wondered if the man was still on the other end. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He couldn’t afford to waste anymore time here. He gave the detective the address and hung up. Then on a whim, he took some photos of the garage and emailed them to himself, just in case. 

He took another quick look over the place, then ran out of the house. He needed to get as far away from here as humanly possible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	17. Chapter 17

Danny crouched next to the body and frowned. There was a plastic bag tied to the man’s head, but someone had ripped it open. He looked up at the medical examiner and indicated to the bag, “Did you do this?”

“Good morning, detective,” the man answered, “No, I did not. It was like that when I got here, but I rather suspect that whoever did that was trying to save him and caused this.” The M.E. opened the man’s shirt to reveal bruising on his torso.

“Post-mortem bruising?” Danny asked.

“Exactly, detective,” the man praised him.

“Please, call me Danny.”

The M.E. nodded, “Okay detective, then you can call me Max.”

“Thank you, Max. Sorry, you were saying someone tried to save him? Are you saying they gave him CPR?”

Max nodded, “Yes, somewhat futilely, I’m afraid. This man died four-six hours ago.”

“Four-six hours? Are you sure?” Danny asked, wondering why McGarrett – if that’s who it’d been – would’ve tried performing CPR on the guy when he was well and truly gone. The man was Navy, well, ex-Navy, but he’d have had plenty of training in first aid, probably even more than that. He would’ve been able to tell the difference between a man hanging on by a thread and a corpse, unless the time in prison had fucked with his head.

He glanced up in time to catch the look on the M.E.’s face, “Oh, no, sorry, I didn’t mean… Yeah, okay, of course you’re sure. Look, I’ll uh, I’ll leave you to it. Let me know if you find anything.”

Danny looked around the garage and saw a hive of activity. He noticed an analyst putting the contents of the waste bin into evidence bags – bloodied rags in one, other waste in the other. He considered what McGarrett had said and decided to take a closer look.

“Hi, I’m Detective Williams,” Danny introduced himself, showing the analyst his badge, “What’ve you got there?”

The guy looked at him, then seemed happy enough to answer, “Couple of bloodied dressings, gauze, scissors, pretty much the play list if you wanted to perform surgery.”

“Any slugs?” Danny asked.

“Haven’t seen any so far, but I’ll know more when we get it back to the lab,” the guy responded.

“Detective Williams,” a familiar sounding voice had Danny turning around. And he couldn’t help wincing when he saw none other than the Captain standing behind him.

“Oh hey there, Cap, I uh, I was just driving past, you know,” he knew the man wouldn’t believe him, but he had to try.

Kaleo pursed his lips, then indicated the door with his head, “Go home, detective, we’ll talk about this later.”

“Yes Sir,” Danny responded, wisely choosing to not look this particular gift horse in the mouth.

***********************************

Steve paced up and down in one of the rooms of the derelict house he’d found. The place didn’t have electricity or running water, but it was somewhere he could lie low, at least until he figured out what to do next. But that was the point, he wasn’t sure what was next.

He’d spent so much time thinking about what he’d do if he got out, but he’d thought, hoped, that it would be easier than this. He kept getting so close to Hesse, only for the guy to slip through his fingers.

He needed to come at this from a different angle. He needed to figure out what he’d missed. The answer was right there in front of him, he just needed to figure out what it was. This couldn’t be that complicated.

What he really needed was a list of Galey’s properties, Hesse had to be in one of them, living it up. The man was free to go about his business without a care in the world. He wasn’t a wanted fugitive like Steve was. He hated that his father’s killer hadn’t been brought to justice yet. He hated even more that they thought he’d been capable of doing it.

In a fit of rage, he swept everything off the dining table in front of him, sending bottles, papers, books and god-knew-what flying. Then he picked up the old wooden chair and hurled it at the wall. He felt a degree of satisfaction when it broke into pieces. But it didn’t help the empty feeling inside of him.

He was breathing hard, trying to get a hold of his emotions, but all it did was pull on his stitches. He made an effort to slow his breathing, counting in for three seconds, then out for three. It helped him focus, but that’s all it did. This wouldn’t be over until it was over. And until then, he just had to make do.

He was left feeling exhausted, and he realised that he’d barely slept since he’d escaped. It probably explained why he couldn’t think properly and maybe even why his emotions were so scattered. He needed to sleep.

Steve checked his traps on the doors and windows, ensuring that he would have some warning if someone entered the house. Then he lay down with his back to the wall and tried to shut off his brain. He wasn’t entirely successful, but his body was tired enough that he was fast asleep five minutes later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	18. Chapter 18

Danny found himself taking a detour on his way home. It was still early in the day and he didn’t want to waste it. He pulled up at Pearl Harbor again and showed his credentials to security at the gate. If there was anyone who knew where McGarrett would be going from here, it would be the former detective who’d been one of McGarrett’s first points of contact after he’d escaped. Not that he could prove it.

But when he got to the shop front, he found it was closed, with a ‘Back in 15 minutes’ sign on the door. Danny frowned; he didn’t believe in coincidences.

He went around to the back of the shop and banged on the door, “Open up, Kelly, I know you’re in there!”

He took his pistol out of the holster and was about to bang again, when Kelly opened the door a fraction, being entirely too cagey for Danny’s comfort. “Detective Williams?”

Danny ignored the man and pushed the door open, forcing himself into the room. But like last time, there was no sign of McGarrett. The only difference was that this time, Kelly wasn’t alone.

“Who’re you?” Danny asked, not yet feeling happy enough to lower his weapon.

The bald man didn’t look perturbed at having a weapon pointed at him, not taking his hands off his hips, “Commander Joe White.”

Danny frowned, but holstered his weapon, “You’re McGarrett’s old C.O., right? What’re you doing here?”

“Oh, you know, just catching up with a friend,” White responded, glancing at Kelly, “Is this the guy?”

Kelly closed the door and crossed his arms over his chest, “Certainly is.”

White studied Danny for a moment, then nodded, “I thought he’d be taller.”

“Oh, that’s funny,” Danny said, “Just a regular circus in here. And what were you talking about? Why were you talking about me?”

“Chin tells me you’re reopening Steve’s case and you – ” White started.

“I’m not reopening it,” Danny interrupted, “McGarrett thinks he’s innocent – ”

“He is innocent,” White interrupted, “But I think you’ve figured that out already. You seem like a smart guy; do you really think this all adds up?”

Danny looked at Chin, then back at the Commander, “Do you know where McGarrett is?”

White shook his head, “No, Steve will chase Victor Hesse all over the island to prove his innocence. You’re asking the wrong questions, detective.”

Danny thought about what White was getting at, and there was something that had been bugging him since he’d read McGarrett’s file. And the Commander might know the answer. “Why was McGarrett prosecuted through the civilian system? What happened to NCIS and JAG lawyers, and the military justice system?”

White nodded at him, “Getting warmer, have a think about who makes those decisions.”

Danny frowned. Usually the lead agents on the ground would make the initial call on jurisdiction, but in a case like this, it would have gone right to the top. 

“And the question isn’t who killed John McGarrett either,” Kelly piped up.

“It’s why was he killed,” Danny stated. He’d already made a note about that on his notepad – _‘MOTIVE’_ had been circled and underlined several times, because that question had remained unanswered.

“Bingo,” White responded, “Steve barely spoke to his father, he hadn’t even contacted him when he got back to the island. Do you really believe that an hour after John called him for the first time in 15 years, that Steve suddenly decided to kill the man? Why would he do that?”

Danny frowned and looked between the two men again, “McGarrett was chasing the Hesse brothers, he blamed Victor for his death.”

Chin nodded, “Yeah, and Victor probably did kill him. But Steve had only just picked up Anton, that’s not nearly enough time to organise a hit.”

“So what are you saying? That Victor was already holding John McGarrett hostage? He couldn’t have known his brother would get caught. What’s your theory?” Danny asked.

“John called me a few months before his death, he said he couldn’t trust anyone at the department. He thought his phone line was tapped, so he didn’t want to say anything about it over the phone. But he asked me to come down so he could explain what he’d found,” White told him, “But he died before I could get here.”

“And you think he was killed because of something he found?” Danny asked, looking between the two men, noting their expressions.

“I do,” White responded, with a nod.

“Okay, uh, any idea what he was looking into?” Danny asked, then looked at Kelly, “You were his partner, right? Did he confide in you?”

Kelly glanced at White and they seemed to come to an understanding, before the man responded, “No, he didn’t say anything about his investigation. But in the last few weeks, he talked a lot about his wife, Doris.”

“Doris?” Danny asked, trying to remember if he’d come across the name in the files he’d read, but he came up empty. Then he remembered what he’d heard around the station, and his confusion intensified, “Wait a minute, I thought John’s wife was killed in a car accident some 15 years ago?”

“We don’t think it was an accident,” White told him, then sighed and looked around the shop, “We should move this discussion somewhere more secure if you want to continue it. Are you with us, detective?”

Danny frowned and thought about the events of the last couple of days. One thing was for sure, he wanted to know more, he wanted to know what these men knew. So, he nodded, “I don’t like it when evidence starts disappearing and witnesses are killed before I can even interview them. And you know, more than that, I don’t like it when I think someone’s blocking my investigation. So yes, I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	19. Chapter 19

_“My brother’s dead, isn’t he?” Victor demanded, “Then so is your father!”_

_“NO!!!” Steve screamed as he heard the gunshot. He stared at the green surrounds on either side of the highway, the beauty of the countryside a stark contrast to the ugliness on the other end of the phone._

_It felt like someone was squeezing his chest, making it hard to breathe. He couldn’t believe his father had just been killed, he wouldn’t. Not when he was finally on the same island as him. He could have prevented this._

_He heard a car approaching, so he went to meet them. He needed to get to his father’s house, which meant he needed a set of wheels._

_Suddenly, he was being hit in the face, the motion knocking him off balance. He fell to the ground and tried to roll to his feet, but a guard kicked him in the chest. It was then that he realised he was back in the prison bathroom. This was why he’d tried to avoid this place._

_He gasped in pain and tried to get to his feet again, but another kick stopped him short. When the next kick came, he grabbed the guys foot and twisted, bringing him down. Steve rolled to a knee and smashed the guy’s face, but someone pulled him away before he could hit him again. Steve fought back as hard as he could, but it was a losing battle._

_“Morning, sweety, miss me?” an inmate that he’d had an altercation with the first week he’d arrived, asked. The man’s nose looked like it’d healed okay, but the same couldn’t be said for the burn on his arm._

_Steve's arms were being held up high and to his sides as he knelt on the ground. He swat the blood out of his mouth and tried to overpower the guards, but there was no way he could win this fight. The inmate nodded at one of the guards, and then he heard a snap. It took a second before the pain kicked in and he screamed as felt intense pain in his arm._

Steve sat bolt upright and wildly looked around, his handgun following his gaze. As soon as he realised he wasn’t in any immediate danger, he rolled to his side and vomited. Once he was done, he coughed and spat, then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. He rolled back and leant against the wall, trying to catch his breath. 

It felt like it had just happened yesterday. His arm even still throbbed from where it had been broken. But it wasn’t his only token from that morning.

Steve tried to shake off the morbid thoughts as he staggered to his feet and peeked out through a window. It was light outside, so definitely time to get up and get some stuff done. He searched the surrounds, but didn’t see any sign that HPD had found him. Hopefully, he could use this place for a little bit longer if he didn’t find Victor soon. It was an ideal little place, out of the way enough that nobody would come here or see him coming and going.

He checked outside again, it never hurt to be paranoid, then finally left the place. He walked for half a mile to get to the place he’d stashed his car, in amongst the trees. Clearing the branches and foliage from the car took longer than he would have liked, but he didn’t regret hiding the car. It only took an observant pilot to notice that a car was parked near an abandoned house, that wasn’t normally there, and the next minute, HPD would come knocking. And that situation wouldn’t end well for him. 

Steve hit the road, only making a quick stop as he travelled. He needed information, and there was only one guy he could get it from. But the man had needs. 

Half an hour later, he dropped a bag of candy in front of his new friend. As expected, Toast picked up the bag and inhaled as though it held valuable goods, and maybe to him, it did. He was only 70% sure the man wouldn’t call the police, so he kept his wits about him. Toast had helped him track down the Hesse brothers the first time around, so there was no reason he couldn’t help out this time too. The only difference was that last time, he had more information to go off.

“I need some information,” Steve announced.

“I’d tell you to get in line, but you brought my favourite. So, what do you need?” the man asked.

“A list of Frank Galey’s properties, and if you can, see if there’s been any history of someone using them. Someone using the electricity, that sort of thing,” Steve responded as he looked over Toast’s shoulder at the gibberish on his screen. He frowned at it and looked back at the junkie.

“If I can do it?” Toast repeated as he turned around to look at Steve, “Is the pope a catholic? Of course I can do it. Are you still looking for those Irish terrorists?”

Steve nodded, “Anton’s dead. Victor killed my father and framed me for the murder,” Steve replied.

“I know, crazy right?” Toast responded, shaking his head, “I mean, there are easier ways to get rid of people. Someone must really have fucked up for you to get out of there alive.”

Steve frowned, “What’re you talking about?”

“Whoever hired the Irish brothers,” Toast replied, apparently thinking on a different wavelength to him, “It would have been much easier if they’d just sniped him coming out of a shop, or during an ‘incident’, or even just making him disappear, never to be seen again.”

“Wait, you think my father was targeted?” Steve asked.

Toast looked confused for a moment, “You don’t?”

“Victor held my father hostage and wanted to trade him for his brother, Anton, who I’d just arrested,” Steve explained.

“Oh, okay, that makes more sense,” Toast responded sarcastically, “In the space of what? An hour, this ‘Victor’ character heard you’d caught his brother, tracked down your father, took him hostage, probably beat him up. Then he called you and demanded you release his brother, or else. Am I right? Or you walked into a trap and you and your father were never meant to survive.”

Steve turned the idea over in his head a few times and was surprised to find that it made sense. He frowned at the geek, “You know, no offence, but for a pot-head, you’re pretty switched on.”

“No offence taken,” Toast replied, then mimicked taking a toke, “I love a bit of the pakalolo.”

Steve snorted, “What can you tell me?”

Toast gave him a list of addresses and circled the one third from the bottom, “This one’s electricity usage spiked yesterday. The place was deserted until then.”

Steve nodded, “Thanks, man.”

“Hey McGarrett,” Toast said as Steve started walking back to the door. Then he ruffled through a drawer and threw him a phone, “Pre-paid, unlimited data and calls, untraceable. Consider it pay back for that spot of trouble you got me out of.”

Steve turned the phone over in his hand and raised his eyebrows at the Magnum P.I. phone case, he’d always loved that show, but this was a bit much. 

“Oh, you can keep the case too,” Toast told him.

Steve chuckled, “Ah, thanks, I think.”

“You’re welcome. Oh hey, one more thing, man, your sister sold your dad’s house a few months ago. It went for $1.5 million. She moved some stuff to a storage unit before the house went up – Extra Space Storage. Just in case you, you know, wanted to see if they’re any clues or whatever,” Toast offered.

Steve frowned, unsure whether to be amused or concerned, “That’s uh, I mean, how do you know that?”

Toast shrugged, then grinned at him, “Your sister’s hot, man.”

Steve raised his eyebrows in surprise, then pointed his finger at him, “You stay away from her.”

“Hey, sorry man, I was just looking,” Toast put his hands up in defense.

Steve nodded, pleased that his message had got across, “You know the unit number?”

“50A,” Toast told him.

Steve nodded again, “Okay, thanks again.” Steve left the place before Toast could respond. He looked at the address again, hopefully Victor would be there and he could finally put this thing to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this one's a long one, but hopefully worth it.

Danny had followed Commander White back to Kelly’s place. Kelly hadn’t joined them, saying that it would be noticed if he didn’t finish his shift, and there was no doubt that he was being watched. He had been John McGarrett’s partner at the time of his death, and had worked on the case until he’d been kicked off the force. If there was truly a list to get rid of anyone tied to the murder, Kelly was definitely on it.

Danny and White left the shop separately, but met up at the pre-determined spot. They made sure they weren’t followed on the way, taking the long way to Kelly’s house. 

They entered through the back door and went straight through to the study. Danny had to take a deep breath when he saw the room. It was clear that Kelly had continued working the investigation after he’d been pulled off. Two sides of the room were covered with various clippings and statements. The papers were covered in notes. 

There were two whiteboards along the third wall and half of the fourth. One had an unfinished diagram of everyone’s connections, whilst the other had a running list of ideas, some of which were scrubbed off. 

“Wow,” Danny allowed.

“Impressive, no?” White asked.

Danny nodded and studied the map of O’ahu that had several locations marked in red. He took a step back and looked at the room again, “Where did all this come from? A lot of this wasn’t in the file.”

“Chin made notes of everything, he suspected a cover up and that was only confirmed when he was pulled off the case. He only got in contact with me a week ago, after he heard Steve’s final appeal failed. He couldn’t let an innocent man be executed,” White explained.

Danny shook his head in amazement, “He did all this himself?”

White slowly nodded, looking around himself, “Most of it, I’ve been able to add to it a bit, but there’s still a lot of unknowns.”

“Isn’t it a bit risky having this little, uh, workshop, here in his house? Especially if you think he’s a target?” Danny asked.

White shook his head, “This isn’t Chin’s place, this is Mary’s. Had to move everything after Chin had a break in last year.”

“Mary? As in, McGarrett’s sister?” Danny clarified.

“Yeah, she was heartbroken when Steve was convicted. She reached out to Chin and offered the use of her place in case he needed it,” White responded, then he gestured to the walls, “Want me to run you through this mess?”

Danny nodded, “Yeah, that’d help.”

“Okay, this here is Steve’s movements over the week and a half before and during John’s murder. Key points are; his arrival on the island on 09 September 2010, three days after the Hesse brothers arrived,” White started.

“You can confirm that? The Hesse brother’s arrival, I mean?” Danny asked.

White nodded, “We had reliable intelligence that the brothers arrived here on a Chinese freighter on 06 September.”

“What’s the source?” 

“Classified. Navy can reveal the source in a classified hearing if this ever makes it to it,” White responded, then continued, “On 19 September, around 2230h, Steve got a tip off from a C.I. about Anton visiting a female friend at an out of the way hotel. He cased the joint overnight, then finally entered just before 1000h on 20 September. He took the place easily and arrested Anton. Then he called me – see here? These are Steve’s phone records.”

Danny nodded when he saw the highlighted time: 10:13, “You didn’t speak for long.”

“He was just checking in, said he had Anton, but Victor wasn’t there. He was on his way to Pearl,” White shrugged. He pointed to a list of timings further down the opposite page, “Have you seen these?”

_1057: John calls Steve._   
_1138-1208: John’s TOD._   
_1144: 911 call._   
_1149: First responder arrives._   
_1208: M.E. arrives._

Danny glanced at the times, “They’re the key times according to the DA.”

White nodded, “Phone records show John called Steve at 1057h, the HPD data came from their logs and as you know the M.E. called John’s time of death sometime in the half hour before he arrived.”

Danny nodded, “Yep, and?”

White pointed at the map, “Steve was here, on the Kamehameha Highway, when he got the call. It’d take a regular person over an hour to get to John’s house from there. It took Steve 47 minutes.”

Danny frowned, then did the maths and looked back at the times, “Wait… what?”

White pointed at a still shot next to the map. The shot was overexposed and slightly blurred, but you could make out the number plate of the vehicle and the time stamp: 11:44, 20 September 2010. “This was taken from a CCTV camera from one of John’s neighbours. She installed it after a group of youths knocked over her letterbox a few months before John’s murder. This is the vehicle Steve borrowed from Ted Glenbrook.”

Danny’s frown deepened, “Why didn’t this make it to trial?”

“Why didn’t any of it? Why was there even a trial at all? This doesn’t prove anything. What time have you got now? I’ve got 1448.”

Danny glanced at his watch, “1450, okay fine.”

“Steve said that Victor killed John when he was on the phone, meaning that his TOD was closer to 1100h. John’s neighbour across the road called 911 at 1102h that morning, he said he reported a single gun shot,” White pointed to a highlighted line on a different phone bill, “But there’s no record of it.”

Danny nodded, “I’ve had a 911 call disappear on me too, and I don’t believe in coincidences.”

“Recently?” White asked.

Danny nodded again, “Someone called 911 and reported a potential human smuggling operation at Fred Doran’s address. The call was cancelled and roughly an hour later, a call came in saying that there were three DOAs there.”

“Doran? Have you seen this?” White asked, showing him a ballistics report.

Danny briefly read it and sighed, “No, but Kelly told me about it.”

White considered him for a moment, then continued. He pointed at a news clipping showing Captain Kaleo shaking hands with the Governor, “How well do you know the Captain?”

Danny shrugged as he studied the image, “As well as any haole detective he hired.”

“You been at HPD for about 12 months, right?” White asked.

“12 months last week,” Danny confirmed.

“So, you wouldn’t know that Kaleo was the lead detective on John’s case, he was a Lieutenant, but took an interest in the case because of John’s status. And no, that’s not altogether surprising or suspicious, but his promotion to Captain two months later was,” White explained, then added, “Kaleo had only been an LT for two years, and Chin said that much like the Navy, the HPD has a minimum time in rank, and that is well below it.”

“Yeah, three to five years at a minimum, but I mean I’ve seen guys be an LT for 10 years. Some guys just reach terminal rank, you know?” Danny responded. 

White grinned at him, “Yeah, I know, got our fair share in the Navy.”

Danny considered the image again, “You think Kaleo’s involved in this?”

“I think they both are,” White responded, waving his finger back and forth between Kaleo and Jameson. It wasn't hard for Danny to read between the lines; White thought Kaleo was the one getting rid of the 911 calls, maybe even getting rid of other evidence. White sighed, “Can’t prove it yet.”

“You think Jameson is dirty?” Danny asked with a frown as he looked at the picture, “I don’t get it, I mean, what’s in it for her?”

“Still working on that. But this might make it a bit clearer,” White pointed at another blurry picture from the same CCTV footage. This one was taken at 11:55 on 20 September and showed an Asian male driving away from John McGarrett’s house. 

“Who is that?” 

“We think that is Kouji Noshimuri, leaving the scene of the murder just after Steve’s been arrested,” White responded.

Danny frowned, “Wait a minute, this camera, did it pick up Victor or any of his guys coming or going?”

“Got a bogey at 2300h, the night before, which has to be them. Plates are a dead end and you can’t see a clear shot of anyone in the vehicle, and we didn’t catch them leaving,” White replied.

“Bogey?”

“Unknown, potential threat.”

“Wait, the night before? They what? Tortured him for 11 hours?”

“We think they had to wait for Steve to get to Anton. They arrived at John’s house within an hour of Steve’s ‘C.I.’ calling with the tip,” White responded.

“Uh, okay,” Danny sighed and rubbed his hand over his face as he thought about what John McGarrett’s final few hours had been like. “Okay uh, tell me about this Kouji Nosh-ee-whatever guy.”

“Noshimuri. He’s Hiro Noshimuri’s brother, and if the name sounds familiar, it’s because Hiro is the head of the Yakuza, the local Japanese mafia gang. They’ve got links to drugs, weapons, corruption, you name it.”

“Sound like a delightful bunch,” Danny commented, “So, the Yakuza are somehow linked to John’s murder? But how? And why? More to the point, if you believe that Victor Hesse murdered John McGarrett, then why are the Japanese mafia working with Irish terrorists? And how are they connected to Kaleo and Jameson?”

“All good questions, and we don’t have the answers to them all. But we will. My theory is that John was looking into the Yakuza, they found out and had him murdered,” White responded.

“Yeah, but they’re easier ways to kill a guy. I mean, they coulda just ordered one of their guys to carry out the hit, why involve a third party? And why complicate matters by trying to pin it on the son?” Danny answered, “It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Maybe, but that’s where the evidence is pointing.”

“Evidence?” Danny asked, then laughed, “This isn’t evidence, this is all circumstantial, at best. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m convinced you’re onto something here, but…”

“Why do you think we’re still working on this all secretive like? We can’t come forward with this until we have more answers. This may provide some clarity,” White told him, holding up an external hard drive.

“And what is that?” Danny asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“The contents of John McGarrett’s hard-drive, Chin had a contact download the thing before he left the PD. John wasn’t one for computers, so there might not be anything of the investigation he was running prior to his murder, but there’s a lot of files on here,” White responded.

“I guess you need help going through that, then?” 

White nodded, with a smile, “We haven’t had the time to go through it yet. I figure, you’re the one that’s still a cop, you know how these things are supposed to run.”

Danny made a gimme gesture and sat down, “Okay, guess I better get started then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	21. Chapter 21

**31 March 2012**

Steve slowly drove past the house that Toast thought Victor was holed up in. There were no signs of life from the front, but that didn’t mean anything. Victor was a careful guy, even injured, he would’ve taken precautions.

He rolled the car further down the street, before parking and getting out. Drawing his gun, he ran back to the house. Then just as before, he decided to enter from the rear of the property. As he went down the side of the house, he paused briefly to look in the windows, but there was nothing out of place.

Steve kicked open the back door and slowly, carefully made his way in. But he’d only just stepped inside when bullets started spraying around him. He dove in the kitchen to the left of the door and returned fire.

“You shoulda stayed in prison, McGarrett!” Victor shouted, as he fired at him.

Steve felt a flare of anger at the words, but tried to remain reasonable and not let it override his actions. He took a sight picture and fired back, “You’re gonna pay for killing my father!” he yelled.

Victor laughed back at him, taking cover as the bullets hit close to his position, “What’re you talking about? You killed him!” 

“You killed him, you son of a bitch! _You!_ not _me!_ ” Steve yelled in fury, ducking as Victor exchanged a volley of shots.

"That's not what the state of Hawaii said!" Victor shouted.

Steve yelled, shooting back at Victor. Then he took a shaky breath, he needed to remain composed, “I’m gonna take you in and you’re gonna confess! Okay? You’re gonna tell them everything! You hear me?!”

Steve discarded his clip and reloaded, but suddenly realised that Victor had stopped firing back. And he’d stopped talking, which meant one of two things and neither were good. He scrambled to his feet and carefully moved through the lounge room to the bedroom on the either side, where Victor had been shooting from. 

Steve’s breath caught in his throat and his blood ran cold as he looked down at the Irish terrorist. Victor had taken two shots to his chest and was lying in a growing pool of blood. Steve shakily stepped forward to take a pulse, but hesitated, then backed off. He wiped a hand over his sweaty face and put his hands on his hips as he stared at Victor. 

“No, no, no,” he whispered, suddenly kneeling at his side and putting pressure on his wounds, “You can’t die.”

He pushed his hands down firmer, making blood pool up and over his fingers. “You can’t die,” he muttered as he looked around. Steve knew he needed to call an ambulance, but they’d bring cops and then it’d be over, but it couldn’t be over. 

“How can you clear my name if you’re dead?!” Steve yelled at Victor, “You need to confess.”

He fumbled getting the phone out of his pocket and tried to find a recording app, which was hard when he was fighting off tears. Eventually, he located the app and started it, “You need to confess, just tell them. Tell them it was you, not me!”

But Victor didn’t budge and Steve realised he was too late. He’d ruined his only chance of getting out of this thing. Steve shook his head and wiped his eyes on his shoulder.

Abruptly, he stood up. Someone would have called in the gunshots by now. He turned to the door and numbly walked back out, retracing his steps. 

***************************************

Danny wiped a hand over his face and looked around the small office again, but not really seeing anything. He hadn’t expected any of this just a few days ago, when his car had been stolen with his little monkey inside it. 

He’d decided he believed what White had told him. But it meant there was a conspiracy of epic proportions going on.

“Got anything?” White asked.

Danny turned his attention to him, “John ran a number of searches on the Yakuza, specifically Hiro and Kouji Noshimuri. But I mean, he looked them all up. So far as I can tell, if he was looking into them again, he wasn’t doing it here.”

“Okay, keep looking,” White responded.

“Anything on Doris McGarrett?” Chin asked, looking up from his own laptop.

“Not yet,” Danny responded as his phone rang. He frowned when he saw it was the main desk at HPD calling him, the last time they’d called, they’d patched through McGarrett. 

“Williams,” he answered.

_“Detective Williams, I’m just gonna transfer a call to you, he didn’t say his name.”_

“Okay, do it,” Danny replied, standing up and getting White and Chin’s attention. He heard the click that the call had connected, but at first, the other man didn’t say anything. “McGarrett, is that you?”

_“Sorry, I shouldn’t have called you.”_

“Then why did you?” Danny asked, his frown intensifying. The other man was talking in a monotone, completely devoid of any infliction, like he was holding back his emotions. “What happened?” he asked, because it was clear that something had.

_“Victor Hesse’s dead.”_

“What?” Danny asked, “What are you talking about?”

_“It’s over. I killed him, I … I didn’t mean to. I was going to bring him in, but he started shooting at me, so I returned fire, but… I hit him and now he’s dead. He can’t – he can’t clear my name. He didn’t confess, I…”_

It was clear the man was trying to remain in control but was failing. He was trying to hold himself together, despite the hopelessness of his situation. In that moment, Danny knew Steve was innocent and his heart broke for him. 

“Okay, what’s the address?” Danny asked, grabbing a pen and paper.

_“I can’t come in, I’m not… I don’t… I just can’t.”_

Danny nodded, “I understand, what’s the address?”

_“793 Kii Street. I gotta go. I’m sorry.”_

Danny jotted down the address, but Steve hung up before he could respond. 

“That’s 20 minutes from here, I can get there in 15. Come on, let’s go,” White said, reading over his shoulder. White grabbed his things and headed for the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Danny asked.

“Son, let me explain something to you. Steve’s had my back for years, saved my life more times than I’d like to admit, you really think I’m just gonna sit by whilst my boy’s in trouble? I’m going whether you like it or not,” White answered, “And by the way, I’m driving.”

Danny frowned, he didn’t like being dictated to, but the man had a point and he wasn’t going to turn down having help from a Navy SEAL Commander. “My car goes faster,” was all he could think of in retort.

“Fine, we’ll take your car. I’m still driving,” White replied.

“I’m coming too,” Kelly commented, then added before anyone could say anything, “This was my case eighteen months ago, I’m gonna make sure I finish it. And I’ve seen you’re driving Commander, I’m taking my own car.”

“What does that mean?” Danny asked, as he followed the other men out, “Kelly?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And yeah, it'll get worse before it gets better. Have faith though, it will get better...eventually...

“Clear!” Detective Williams shouted.

“Clear,” Chin called.

“Clear,” Joe responded, holstering his weapon. He looked around the small house, picturing what had taken place here. He sighed and went into the bedroom, where Williams was crouched next to a pool of blood.

Williams looked up at him, “This is a lot of blood.”

“Hesse’s still alive,” Joe answered, then gestured at the medical debris on the floor – opened gauze packets and the like. “They wouldn’t have treated him if he was dead.”

“How did they know he was down though?” Chin asked as he joined them.

Williams stood up and put on a set of gloves, “They must have eyes on the place, right? I mean, it didn’t take us more than 20 minutes to get here – ”

“16,” Joe corrected, “And only because you made me stop for those lights.”

Williams rolled his eyes as he picked up the medical paraphernalia and put it into a few evidence bags, “Regardless, whoever took Victor had to have been close by.”

“Close enough to pick him up, but not enough to clean up the place,” Chin remarked.

Joe nodded, “They’ll have a cleaner on the way, they won’t leave it like this.”

Williams nodded in agreement, “Stakeout?”

Joe rolled his eyes, “What is it with cops and stakeouts? Y’all get so excited about them, but any time I’ve had to do one, it’s been as boring as batshit.”

“What? Not enough action for you? Not enough explosions?” Williams asked, with a grin.

“There’s no action or explosions,” Joe replied.

“Personally, I think it’s because there’s no dragons,” Chin added.

“Dragons?” Joe asked.

Williams chuckled and shook his head, “There’s never enough dragons. Okay, I’m gonna take this to the lab.”

“Give it to Charlie, he’s good people,” Chin told him.

“Tell him it’s for us, he’ll know what to do,” Joe added.

“What does that mean? What’s he going to do?” Williams asked, hesitating at the door.

“Keep it off the books, he’s also sending copies of everything to NCIS,” Joe responded.

“At Pearl?” Williams asked, his face clearly displaying what he thought of that idea.

Joe shook his head, “I don’t know the agents here, and as far as I’m concerned, they dropped the ball. No, I’m running everything through NCIS on the mainland. A cranky old bastard there owes me a favour. All we need to do is ask and he’ll be here.”

“Good to know,” Williams responded, “Okay, deliver to Charlie.”

“Charlie Fong, he’s ohana,” Chin stated, “We’ll stay here and wait for the cleaner.”

They watched Williams leave with the evidence. Joe turned to Chin and raised his eyebrows, “Well, he’s like a breath of fresh air.”

Chin chuckled, “He takes his job very seriously.”

Joe nodded, “I can tell, I don’t know any detectives who wear ties in Hawaii. He strikes me as the type who’ll do what it takes to find all the evidence and make the decision about guilt later, rather than someone who’ll decide a person’s innocent or guilty, then find evidence to back up the story they’ve gone with. Which is good for us, he won’t stop until he has the complete picture.”

“But?” Chin asked.

“But if Steve was to walk through the door now, Williams would be compelled to arrest him and take him in,” Joe answered.

“You think so?” 

Joe nodded, “I do. That’s not to say that he wouldn’t keep working the case.”

Chin seemed to consider that for a moment. Then Joe thought of something and smiled, “I think we can trust him though. If someone asked him to get rid of evidence or look the other way whilst they tried to destroy it, Williams would punch them in the face.”

Chin chuckled, then nodded, “Apparently the haole’s got a mean right hook.”

*********************************

Steve stood in the abandoned house; in the room he’d claimed as his bedroom. He couldn’t remember anything of the ride from Victor’s place. One minute he’d been standing over Hesse’s dead body and the next, he was here. He hoped he hadn’t done anything stupid, like sped or run a red light, or worse yet, hit someone. But he was confident that he would’ve snapped out of it if something had happened.

He only vaguely remembered calling the blonde detective. He had to notify someone of the Irish terrorist’s death, and he felt a certain bond with ‘Danno’. 

Steve slid down the wall to sit on the ground. He felt empty. He wanted to keep fighting, but he didn’t know how. Getting Hesse to confess had been the only thing keeping him going. He didn’t know how to clear his name without him. Even if Hesse hadn’t played ball, they could have done something. But with his death, any chance of clearing his name had disappeared.

Descending to the floor, he lay down with his back to the wall. The cold from the floorboards rose up through his body, but he didn’t care. His situation was hopeless anyway. 

He curled into the foetal position and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	23. Chapter 23

Chin slowly stood up, not taking his eyes off the front door. They’d heard a car just pull up in the driveway and it definitely wasn’t Williams returning. Joe gestured for him to move, so he set up where he had a clear shot of the door in case Joe somehow missed. Not that there was any chance of that happening.

Joe was to the side of the door, poised ready to act. Thankfully, the cleaner hadn’t thought he’d encounter resistance, merely letting himself into the house without even drawing a weapon. Joe waited for him to close the door behind him before speaking, “I think that’s far enough.”

The man went for his weapon, so Joe shot his shoulder, making the guy scream in pain.

“I thought I was pretty clear,” Joe said as he disarmed the man, never taking his weapon down, “Who are you?”

“What the hell, man?!” the guy yelled.

Joe exchanged a glance with Chin, “I don’t think he was expecting company.”

“Who are you and who do you work for?” Chin asked, moving from his position enough that the man could see him.

“I’m Haru, and I don’t know! I just came to do a job and you shot me!” the guy exclaimed.

“I told you not to move,” Joe responded reasonably.

“Do you work for the Yakuza?” Chin asked.

“Who the fuck are the Yakuza?” Haru asked.

Chin nodded at Joe, not that he needed to. Joe pushed his weapon into Haru’s other shoulder, “I’ll be clear this time; lie again and I’ll shoot you again.”

Haru smirked, and he no longer looked like the innocent victim he’d tried to convey to them before. “You know, it’s a shame McGarrett left when he did, I woulda liked to have seen his face when he’d fucked his chance of getting out of this,” Haru spat at them.

“Wrong answer,” Joe responded, shooting his weapon.

Haru roared in pain. Then he fought, or tried to, Joe put a stop to that with a fist to his face.

Joe turned to Chin, “Got somewhere quiet we can take our new friend?”

****************

Danny allowed himself a small smile as he left the lab. Charlie had seemed like a nice guy, and it was the second time he’d met the guy. The first time had been at the crime scene McGarrett had told him about. And that just meant that they were starting to put together a pile of evidence that he was sure hadn’t been corrupted. He was sure that the evidence would show McGarrett was innocent too, but that was a thought for later.

“Detective Williams!” someone called his name as he walked towards his car.

Danny turned around and saw the officer who’d taken him and Grace back to his car a few days ago, “Officer Kalakaua right?”

Kalakaua nodded, “That’s me. I heard you were reopening Steve McGarrett’s case.”

“Not reopening, no,” Danny responded, “I was looking through it to get a lead on where he’d go, but Cap took me off it.”

“Of course, and I suppose you follow his orders too, right?” Kalakaua asked.

“Right,” Danny acknowledged, then frowned, “I’m sorry, was there something I can help you with?”

Kalakaua looked around the parking lot, and the gaze was of someone who had done it tough. She finally found what she was after and she responded, “I found something in McGarrett’s history, a place he might turn up. McGarrett’s sister packed their house into a storage place about 20 minutes from here.”

Danny nodded, “Okay. You want to check it out?”

“I already have. He hasn’t been there, but I want to sit on the place. I think it’ll be a more useful way to spend my time looking for him. I read up on McGarrett as much as I could, he used to be a Navy SEAL, I don’t think I’ll come across him driving up and down the Kamehameha highway,” Kalakaua responded.

“You never know, you might,” Danny hedged, knowing the man had driven along there recently. Then he remembered something he’d heard about the officer, “You’re Chin Ho Kelly’s cousin, right?”

“In blood only,” she responded, her voice taking on a hard edge, “Don’t judge a book by its cover. Unlike my cousin, I’m not going to let McGarrett get away with what he’s done. He’s a cop killer and he needs to pay for it.”

Danny frowned, as far as he’d been able to tell, Kelly hadn’t let McGarrett get away with anything. “What’re you talking about? McGarrett was put on death row for what he apparently did.”

“What do you mean apparently?” Kalakaua asked, “I read the case files, this was a slam dunk.”

“And nothing struck you as odd?” Danny asked, “I mean, I know you’re a newbie, but you couldn’t see that anything was out of place? Or that it tied up too neatly? Have you read case files of other ‘slam dunk’ cases? And like you said, McGarrett was a Navy SEAL, would he do something like this? In this way?”

An odd look crossed Kalakaua’s face and it was all the confirmation Danny needed that she felt the same way. But something was holding her back, maybe it was that she was so new, or that her cousin had been shunned from the department, and they wouldn’t take her seriously. Whatever the reason, she wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say. She thought she had something to prove.

“Look, whenever you’re ready, gimme a call,” Danny told her, handing her a card. “In the meantime, you might be on to something with the storage unit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	24. Chapter 24

**01 April 2012**

**Around 0200h**

Joe looked out across the lake and let his mind drift to another time, another place.

_Joe grunted again as the movement jarred his injuries. But Steve didn’t stop, he merely hefted him further up his shoulder and kept running._

_“Stop, Steve, just stop,” Joe begged. But if Steve heard him, he ignored him._

_Joe gasped in pain, feeling the blood slowly leaving his body. He didn’t want this to be the last thing he saw before he died. And then, he saw a lake. Its water calm, where he felt anything but._

_Then Steve kicked open a barn and dumped him on some hay. “You stay here, you hear me?” Steve asked breathlessly, “Just don’t die on me.”_

_“I look like I’m gonna die on you?” Joe rasped back at his XO, wincing in pain._

_Steve gave half a smile, but it betrayed his emotions, “Yeah, Joe.”_

A noise beside him had Joe snapping out of his reverie. Chin gave him a rag and said softly, “He wants to talk to you.”

Joe wiped his hands of the blood clinging to them as he led the way back to the small barn. It was nothing like the one he and Steve had had to hole up in in lands unknown just a few years ago, but it still brought back memories. He’d nearly died. Only Steve’s unwillingness to give up had saved him.

“I heard you had something to tell me,” Joe said as he walked in. 

Haru spat out a wad of blood and stared at him, “The Taliban hired me.”

Joe exchanged a glance with Chin, “I want a name.”

Haru chuckled, “Osama Bin Laden.”

“He thinks this is funny,” Chin told Joe, then punched Haru in his chest, making the man double over.

But Haru just laughed louder, tears running down his face, “What I’m trying to say, gentlemen, is that I’ll say anything under the threat of torture.”

Joe stared at the man for a bit longer, then came to a decision, “We’re not getting anything more out of him.”

“Joe?” Chin asked, coming to his side.

Joe shook his head and dialled a number from memory. He waited for the phone to be picked up before he spoke, “Gibbs, can you arrange a secure pick-up? I need him transferred to the mainland. Needs to be people we can trust.”

*******************************************

Danny woke up when he heard a noise in the house. He raised his head from the table and deftly removed the paper when it stuck to his face. He quietly got up and removed his sidearm as he listened to someone – two someones – let themselves into the house. Then they did something really stupid, they turned on a light.

Danny would have laughed at the idiocy of them, until he realised he recognised them.

“Jesus! You coulda said something,” Danny griped as he realised his ‘intruders’ were White and Kelly.

White frowned at him, exchanging a glance with Kelly, “What’re you still doing here?”

Then Kelly chuckled, “You fell asleep, right?”

Danny frowned at the man, “What makes you think that?”

“I’ve done it enough times to recognise the signs,” Kelly responded cryptically, then he gestured to his forehead, “And you still have a bit of paper…”

Danny reached up and realised he’d torn some paper when he’d removed it earlier, “What’re you guys doing back so late anyway? Did you find the cleaner?”

“Actually, it’s early,” White responded, checking out his watch, “0500h. And yes, we did.”

“And?” Danny prompted, when it was clear he wasn’t getting anything more.

“He didn’t have anything to say,” Kelly responded.

“So, we sent him to the mainland to think about it,” White added.

Danny closed his eyes and tried to figure out what to say to the two men. In the end, he decided that he was okay with most of the courses of action. But there was one part he was pissed about; he pointed his finger at White and told him in no uncertain terms what he thought about what he’d done. “Next time you go behind my back to – ”

“Behind your back?” White interrupted.

“I haven’t finished yet! Why are you talking?!” Danny snapped at him. “Now, before I was so _rudely interrupted_ , I was saying that we are supposed to be a team! For that to work, we need to act _as though we are a team!_ That shouldn’t be so hard for a man like you to understand!” 

Danny stopped for a breath, before continuing, “Now, the next time you cut me out, I’m out! Okay? I’m either in or I’m out! There is no in-between! I need to know what you know – AT ALL TIMES! That means, no going behind my back whilst you torture a guy! Or whatever the hell you need to do! I told you I’m in. I meant, I’M IN! Do you understand me?!”

White regarded him silently for a moment, then nodded, “Okay, you’re in. But you’re not telling us everything either.”

“What?!” Danny snapped.

“You heard me,” White responded.

Danny looked between the two men with confusion, “What the hell are you talking about? Huh? The _only_ thing that’s happened between the last time I saw you and now is I ran into your cousin. Is that what you’re talking about?”

“You talked to Kono?” Kelly asked, with more protectiveness than anything.

“Yes! Okay? I talked to Kono. She’s got an axe to grind, okay? She thinks she needs to prove herself to be a member of HPD,” Danny responded angrily.

“Did she say that?” Kelly asked.

“No! You idiot!” Danny snapped, “I’m a detective, remember? I can read people. Your cousin wasn’t a hard read.” Then he turned his attention back to White, “There’s nothing else going on here that I haven’t told you about! I take it you already know about McGarrett taking the luxury of taking my car _whilst my daughter was still inside it!_ What else do you want me to tell you? Huh?!”

“Okay,” White replied after a while.

“Okay?” Danny asked.

“Okay.” White said again, “Sit down, I’ll tell you what we’ve been up to.”

***********************************************

_“Gimme the phone, please. I can get him to help you, please, he’s my son,” Steve’s father pleaded, then his tone changed, “Listen to me, champ.”_

_“Dad, I’m gonna get you outta there, don’t you worry about it,” Steve interrupted._

_“I’m sorry that I lied to you.”_

_“What? Lied to me about what? Dad, what are you talking about?” Steve asked, his concern raising yet again._

_“I love you, son. I didn’t say it enough. Whatever these people want Steve, don’t give it to them. Don’t you give it to them!” John exclaimed, followed shortly after by the dull sound of someone hitting him._

_“Dad? Dad!” Steve shouted, trying to figure out a way to get there as soon as he could. He glanced at his passenger in his backseat and knew he was to blame for it._

A sound outside had Steve wake up for the doze he’d found himself in. He listened intently, ready to jump up and defend himself if need be. But after a few minutes, it was clear that the sound came from a cat. An angry – or horny – cat. 

Steve didn’t have the energy to roll his eyes when he heard the distinct sounds of a cat fight. He lifted himself up to rest his weight on his elbows, but he couldn’t see the point of getting up further. It was all over from here. It didn’t matter whether he stayed here or tried gallivanting all over the island. He was tempted to go down to the nearest beach and just sit there until HPD arrested him. 

He listened a bit longer but didn’t hear anything unusual and couldn’t find the motivation to get up. He flopped back down and stared at the ceiling. He was tired enough that he started to doze off without realizing what was happening. But it didn’t matter, he had nothing to do anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've gone through to add dates as I kept getting lost as to how many days Steve had been a fugitive for. I'm only adding the date when the day changes. For reference, the main additions are; Steve escaped on 28 Mar 2012 and the date of his execution had been moved up to 12 Jun 2012.

**03 April 2012**

Danny knew they were missing something as he stared at the wall. He looked at White and wondered whether the other man saw it too. Kelly had had to disappear from work again, so he couldn’t ask him for a second opinion. Not that it mattered anyway, the man sided with White.

“Something on your mind, detective?” White asked.

Danny stared at the guy, then sighed. He’d agreed to share everything, on one condition, “Okay, we agreed to share everything, so here’s what I can see -so far.”

“I’m listening,” White responded, gesturing for him to continue, “That’s why we said yes. We needed fresh perspective.”

Danny nodded, “Okay, well, you’ll get it. Here’s what I see; John McGarrett made some very specific searches into a lot of people before he died. Most noticeably were the ones linked to the Yakuza, okay? And some, the links are obvious, like, who else has searched Hiro Noshimuri at the HPD in the last six months?”

White shovelled some pancakes into his mouth, then gestured at him to continue. He finally mumbled around his food, “That wasn’t rhetorical.”

Danny gave a small grin; the man was starting to understand him. “There were a dozen searches for Hiro by HPD officers or detectives over the last six months. 11 of which, you can directly correlate to an ongoing investigation.”

“As in, his name came up during the investigation of another crime?” Joe asked. Danny nodded, making Joe continue, “The other one?”

“New recruit, fresh out of the academy and wanted to know who the locals were. But the point is that someone only searches for another person for a reason. John ran searches for Kouji Noshimuri four times, but more interestingly, that was over ten years. The database won’t go back further than that.”

“Kouji was who we saw leave the crime scene after Steve was arrested. Why was John looking into him? What the hell does he have to do with this?” Joe asked with confusion.

“That is what we need to find out,” Danny told him.

***************************************************

Steve startled awake, staring at the confines of his newest prison, wondering what the hell had woken him. He got up cautiously, quickly grabbing his gun as he stood up and looked around. None of his traps had been sprung, that much was obvious. But the question remained, what had woken him?

That’s when he heard the strong wind. It was blowing a gale, but not enough that there would be any kind of environmental or natural disaster warning. Just enough that things were blowing around outside that normally wouldn’t.

Steve sighed heavily and relaxed. He cautiously got to his feet and had the insane idea that now would be the best time to get supplies if he wanted any. Most normal people would try to avoid to bad weather. In theory anyway… 

Steve shook his head, but slowly made his way to the truck. A quick glance at his watch surprised him, he’d be semi-conscious for two days, wallowing in self-pity. But he couldn’t find it in himself to care anymore. If he was found, he was found. That said, he still had at least a working pistol and it certainly had at least one working bullet in it. And that’s all he needed in the end.

He slowly and cautiously made his way to the nearest town, but it seemed, he didn’t need to be that worried. Maybe the storm was worse than he expected. It didn’t matter. He parked the stupid car and pushed his cap further down his face to obscure his identity further.

The short walk to the ABC store felt like running the full 100 yards of a football field, but he knew it wasn’t nearly even half as long. He felt like the eyes of the entire town were on him as he entered the store, but tried to push past the stupid phobia.

Steve was breathing heavily as he wandered aimlessly through the superstore. This was the most stressed he’d been in a long time and he subconsciously wondered if he there was something on him that indicated what had happened to him. And it was then that he realised he still had Hesse’s blood on his hands. 

In panic, Steve bolted to the bathroom and furiously scrubbed his hands and wrists. He didn’t know how long he stood there, trying to wash the blood off, but he knew that his hands should be clean by now. The crazy thing was that he could still see thick, red blood washing down the sink.

Steve took a deep breath and scrunched his eyes closed, as he braced himself against the sink. He took another deep breath, trying to calm his panicked mind. When he felt slightly better, he opened his eyes and looked at his hands. He was unsurprised to find they were red and raw, but they were no longer covered in blood. 

He breathed out slowly and wondered if he’d imagined the blood in the first place. He suspected he hadn’t though, given that he couldn’t remember washing his hands after killing Hesse. 

Steve closed his eyes, of course he was losing his mind. The only surprising thing about realising that was that it hadn’t happened earlier. He’d been in solitary confinement for so long, isolated from the rest of the world, with only his thoughts to entertain him. 

He opened his eyes again and stared at his reflection, but he didn’t want to analyse what he saw there. He turned off the tap and pushed his cap further down his face, then left the washroom. 

This time, he went around the store with purpose, grabbing the things he wanted. Mostly snack-like foods and some water, but he stopped at the alcohol section and decided that now was a good a time as any to indulge. He grabbed a few bottles of whisky and went to the checkout. Thankfully, the checkout-chick didn’t pay him any attention when she scanned his things and took his cash. And before he knew it, he was safely out of the store.

On his way back to the car, he walked past a chicken takeout store and decided he wanted some dirty bird. He grabbed a whole chicken and chips, then took his spoils back to the car. 

He felt something akin to happiness as he gorged himself on the hot meal when he got back to his house. He belched and leant back against the wall, the corners of his lips turning up in a faint smile. Then he remembered, and his smile turned into a frown. 

There was one way to cure that though. Steve reached into the bag and took out one of the bottles of whisky. He tried not to think as he opened the bottle and began to drink deeply from it. If only the people he’d loved before could see him now. He blinked back tears as his thoughts drifted to Freddie, and then to his father.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	26. Chapter 26

**04 April 2012**

Danny yawned widely and opened his eyes. He squinted at White, who had just sat in the armchair next to where Danny had sacked out on the couch.

“Morning,” Danny mumbled.

White indicated a large takeaway cup on the table with his eyes, “That’s for you. So, you sleeping here now?”

Danny gave a small nod of his head, trying to get his mind to start working again, “Finished late. And thanks.”

“You shouldn’t make a habit of it,” White responded, “Your place is probably being watched, they’ll notice if you start not sleeping there.”

Danny raised himself onto his elbows, “Yeah, hopefully they think I have some wild thing on the side.”

“Some wild thing?” White responded, with a smile and small shake of his head, “Listen, I’ve been recalled, I’ve gotta head out on a mission. Shouldn’t be more than a few days.”

Danny frowned and sat up properly, “A mission? What’re you talking about? What if something happens to you? Is that why you brought me a peace offering?”

“Chin can’t do this on his own,” White responded, with a nod. Then he gave him a business card, “This is my contact at NCIS in DC.”

“L.J. Gibbs,” Danny read, “I’ve heard of him.”

“He’s a cranky bastard, but he’s loyal and he knows what’s going on here. If you need anything, give him a call. And between you and Chin, you know everything I do,” White explained.

Danny sighed and took a sip of the coffee. “Guess there’s no talking you out of it then?”

“Nope,” White responded, “Plus, I don’t have a choice anyway.”

Danny nodded, he understood that. Before he could say anything more though, his phone rang and his stomach dropped when he saw that the caller was Kaleo. “Morning, Cap.”

_“Detective, I need you to come in. I want a report of what you’ve been doing for the last few days. Be here by 0800h.”_

Danny nodded, even though he knew the other man couldn’t see him, “Looking forward to it.”

His only answer was the dial tone. He looked up at White and grimaced, “Guess it’s time to face the music.”

*******************************************

Kaleo didn’t even wait for Danny to sit down before he started speaking. “So, have you been doing what I asked, Detective?” he asked.

Danny hovered next to the seat, unsure if he wanted to sit down for this conversation. In the end, he opted to stand. He nodded, “Yeah, I’ve enjoyed spending some ‘me time’ over the last few days.”

Kaleo stared at him, making Danny wonder what he knew, “So why were you seen coming out of the forensics lab two days ago?” 

Danny shrugged, thinking on his feet, “The lab tech told me he had some results from some evidence he processed a few weeks ago. He wanted to give me the results in person.”

“For what case?” Kaleo asked.

“The Glover case,” Danny responded. At least it was partially true, he’d run some blood from the crime scene and the results should be back by now.

Kaleo made a note and looked at him again, “And what else have you been up to?”

“Made some pasta, saw a few movies. I’m actually enjoying having some time off, I wouldn’t mind doing more of this,” Danny replied, he needed the time off to continue investigating the case. He couldn’t do that if he was tied to his office.

As if he realised what Danny was trying to do, Kaleo pulled the rug out from under his feet. He slapped a folder onto the desk and gestured for him to pick it up, “Well, if you want more time off, you’ll need to take annual leave to do it. In the meantime, I need you to take this case. Governor Jameson has asked us to look into this discreetly. Amanda Reeves was found dead this morning by a tour group. Amanda is Ambassador Michael Reeves and Sarah Reeves’ daughter. Their other daughter, Robin is missing. Do you know who Michael Reeves is?”

Danny frowned, but nodded, “He’s the US Ambassador to the Philippines, right?”

“Correct, which is why this needs to be handled delicately,” Kaleo responded.

“So why me? I thought you were pissed with me after what happened,” Danny asked.

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I don’t trust you to do your job,” Kaleo answered, “I’ve already briefed Oaksy, so pair up with him.”

“Okay, thanks boss,” Danny responded, taking the file and leaving the office. 

As soon as he closed the door behind him, Danny sighed. This was just great, not only was Commander White away on some super-secret SEAL business, but he had caught a case. And it didn’t sound like something that he could blow off or close easily, so this would take time and effort. Time and effort that he could have spent working on McGarrett’s case.

But this had to take priority. A child was missing. These cases always tore shreds off his soul, they always made him think of his little monkey. If anything was ever to happen to her, he’d want the best people on it and he’d want 100% of their effort. So that’s what he’d have to do here, he owed them that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	27. Chapter 27

**26 April 2012**

Steve sat bolt upright, startling awake. He had no idea what had woken him, but it couldn’t be anything good. He was breathing so hard, his chest hurt. The movement sent shockwaves through his body and into his skull, reminding him that he’d had too much to drink again.

He got up to check the surrounds of the house, stumbling over empty whisky bottles. The noise of the bottles hitting the floor seemed to vibrate through the house, sounding impossibly loud. But Steve didn’t know if that was because of his hung-over state or his panicked one.

Carefully stepping over the other bottles, he checked out the windows, but he didn’t say anything. There was nobody there. He breathed out steadily and slowly made his way back to his ‘bed’. His head was throbbing as though someone was banging on the sides of it, desperate to be let out.

Steve grumbled and picked up the nearest bottle of whisky, intent of drowning the noise in his head. But the bottle was empty. He checked several other bottles, but like the first, they were empty too.

He slid down the wall to sit on the ground. He didn’t know how long he’d been here, holed up in the derelict house, feeling sorry for himself. Not that it mattered. He had nowhere to go, nothing to do.

He wiped his hand over his face until it rested at the back of his neck. He wanted to talk to Mary, tell her he was sorry and try to explain what had really happened. But he knew that whoever had set him up, would have tapped her phone line. He wasn’t sure he cared anymore though. 

Steve picked up one of his pistols and considered it for a moment. He could call Mary, say what he needed to, then…

He unloaded the magazine and counted the bullets. He had more than enough to do what he needed to. No one would mourn his loss, the only people who might feel a little sad were the four or five people he’d reconnected with since his escape. The only person he hadn’t seen was his C.O., Joe was the closest thing he’d had to a father in years. He at least owed the man a call.

But everyone else would get over it and get on with their lives. 

He reloaded the pistol and rested it in his lap as he pulled out his phone. As he entered her number, he considered what Toast had said about her before he’d left. 

Steve’s finger hovered over the call button and wondered if there would be anything worth checking out in the storage unit. He still had the address… And his father hadn’t been a fan of computers, if there was any reason for him to be targeted, it would be in hard copy, which meant there was a chance, however slim that something of value could be there.

Steve cancelled the call and slowly stood up. He had to check this place out. If there was nothing there, he could go through with his original plan. One day wouldn’t make a difference.

************************

Danny let himself into Mary’s house, ready to explain why he hadn’t come back for three weeks, but nobody was home. He sighed and walked into the study, refamiliarizing himself with the details of McGarrett’s case. 

He’d been right, the Reeves case had been a doozy. Oaksy and he had found Robin Reeves alive and mostly okay. They’d also put an end to the sex trafficking ring who had targeted the sisters. The order to kidnap them had come from a Filipino terrorist organisation who was using the ransom demand to get to Reeves and log into a database. They’d put an end to the organization, or at least taken away the ringleader, who would probably be replaced. 

But Danny hadn’t had any time during the course of the investigation do even spare a thought to the McGarrett case. Something that he regretted. But he was here now. They’d finished up the Reeves case late last night and Danny had gone home and slept for 14 hours.

He sat at the desk and started going through files. He wondered where the hell White was. Maybe his mission hadn’t gone so well.

Suddenly, there was a sound at the back door, making Danny jump up and grab his weapon.

“Danny? You in here?” Kelly’s voice came through.

Danny put his weapon away, “Yeah, in here.”

Kelly walked in, holstering his own weapon, “Good to see you again. Case?”

Danny nodded, “Murder and kidnapping.”

Kelly nodded, “I understand, did you get ‘em?”

“Yeah. How’s things here? Did I miss anything?” Danny asked.

“Nothing interesting, no. Victor Hesse is in the wind, we’ve searched far and wide on where he’s staying, but turned up nothing. In other news, you’ll never guess who’s just been released from police custody,” Kelly responded, but it was clear that he thought Danny would be able to figure it out. 

“Sang Min?”

“Correct. He was released a week ago, supposedly there was a lack of evidence regarding his charges. I’ve been sitting on him since then, but he’s done nothing unusual. Charlie called about the evidence you collected at the scene. The blood belonged to Victor Hesse.”

“No surprise there.”

“No,” Kelly agreed, “There were no prints on the packets of gauze and other medical debris. Whoever helped him used gloves. Joe pulled a license plate from a red-light camera close by to the address, but the car was stolen.”

“Of course, it was,” Danny replied, “So, really, we’re no closer to any answers than we were before I left? And speaking of Joe, where is he? Did he get back from the mission okay?”

Kelly nodded, “He got back two weeks ago, he’s chasing up some leads through a contact he wouldn’t tell me about.”

“Sounds mysterious,” Danny responded.

“Joe has his own way of doing things,” Kelly explained, “But he’s good people, you can trust him.”

Danny sighed, “I know, I just wish we had more to go off.”

“You and me, both, brah,” Kelly responded, then got comfortable.

*********************************

Steve slowly drove past the storage facility. It was swipe card access only and there were cameras out the front and down both sides. The back end of the place was inaccessible by road, so Steve parked up and went around the back to check it out. There was a camera there too, but it didn’t look like there was any power to it. 

He looked around the deserted lot that the place backed onto, but there wasn’t anyone around. Normally Steve would be more careful, but he decided to take a risk. He ran back to the car and grabbed the bolt cutters he’d found earlier, then went back to the fence at the back of the property. He made quick work of cutting through the fence and then he was in.

He jogged through the facility, looking at all of the units, before finally finding 50A. He hoped to the gods that he’d find something in here.

The small padlock broke easily, letting him in. He raised the roller door, ducked inside, then closed it behind him. He flicked on the light on his phone, looking along the walls until he found a light switch. Once the overhead light was on, he took a moment to look around at the belongings. The place was bigger and held more than he expected. But it was the biggest item in the unit that captured his attention.

Steve swallowed heavily as he stared at the dark grey car cover in the middle of the unit, clearly it was the centrepiece. He stepped forward and pulled back the cover to reveal the black marquis underneath. The sight took his breath away. The car brought back so many memories, and it reminded him sharply of what he’d lost. Of what he couldn’t get back and what he’d never have again. He’d always planned on trying to patch things up with his father, but they’d run out of time. 

He ran his hand along the side of the car, blinking back tears as his mind replayed happy memories of working on the car with his father. He swiped his eyes angrily, he didn’t feel any better for having killed the man responsible. He just felt empty and numb. 

Steve deliberately turned his back on the car and started looking through the other belongings. There was so much stuff here, he wasn’t sure where to begin. He looked around, hoping something would jump out at him. And then it did. Sitting on top of a set of boxes was a red toolbox, with ‘Champ’ visible. The rest of the word had been covered in what looked like paint leaking.

_“Hey Champ,” his father’s voice said over the phone._

His father had never called him ‘Champ’ before, so why start now?

_“Listen to me, Champ.”_

Steve frowned and pulled the toolbox down, it was clearly a message. He opened the thing, expecting to see tools, but that wasn’t what was inside. There were an assortment of items in the box, but the first thing that got his attention was the cassette recorder. He pressed play and listened to his father’s voice.

_“I can’t continue the investigation in the police department from the inside, I don’t trust the people I work with, so I’m gonna have to do this on my own. It’s all about the key – ”_

Steve pressed pause and frowned at the recorder in his hand. It was all the confirmation he needed that his father had been targeted before he’d arrested Anton. He put the device back into the box, briefly looking over the other items, before closing it. He’d go through the contents with a fine tooth comb later. Right now, he had to get out of here. His skin prickled nervously and he entertained the idea that someone had seen him.

He listened intently, but he couldn’t hear any sirens. But then that was the point, they would put sirens on because they wouldn’t want to spook him. He knew he’d stayed too long, he needed to get out of here ASAP. He turned off the lights again and let himself out. He didn’t bother with the padlock, it was useless now.

Steve ran back to the hole he’d cut in the fence. He just hoped that wasn’t more in the storage unit, but he couldn’t risk staying there any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	28. Chapter 28

Steve’s fears were confirmed when he got back to the car. He’d just put the toolbox on the passenger seat when he heard a woman demand, “HPD, freeze!”

Steve froze in fear, this wasn’t how he wanted this to end.

“Show me your hands!” she shouted at him, “Take three steps backwards, then get on the ground, keep your hands above your head!” 

Steve slowly did what he was told, readying himself for the fight. Because he wasn’t going to go quietly. Then she was talking into her radio, telling dispatch she was arresting him. That at least meant that this ‘Officer Kalakaua’ was probably alone.

Kalakaua grabbed his wrist and attached the cuff to it and that’s when he acted. He pulled her off balance, using the momentum to get up and punch her in the face. But she was stronger than she looked. The woman blocked the blow and hit out at him. Steve dodged the blow and swept her legs out from under her and this time he didn’t miss. Whilst she was down, he wrapped his arm around her throat and waited for her to lose consciousness.

The officer put up a good fight, managing to elbow him a few times, but Steve didn’t budge. As soon as she lost consciousness, he jumped up and cuffed her wrists. He quickly looked around searching for her vehicle, it had to be close-by. Instinct was telling him to just leave her there and hit the road. After all, it wouldn’t take long before she either regained consciousness, or her back up arrived. And there was no doubt in his mind that if she hadn’t already but a BOLO on his vehicle, then that would be the first thing she did when she woke up.

The softer part of him wanted to take her back to her vehicle so she would be safe until she came to. In the end, the more rational – or irrational – part of him won out. He quickly dragged her to the fence line, which he was sure was in the line of view of the CCTV camera from the storage yard, hopefully that meant she wouldn’t come to any harm. But now, he had to leave and get rid of his current car.

*************************

Chin’s stomach grumbled, reminding him that he’d skipped lunch. He started thinking about what to get for dinner, he didn’t want to waste time cooking. He owed it to his friend to put the hard yards into his case, and that meant devoting more time to it than he had recently. 

Just as he was about to ask Danny if he was hungry, he heard his cousin’s name over the police scanner he had in the corner of the room. Frowning in concern, he got up to turn it up, but only caught the address. 

“Did she say 633 Ahua?” Danny asked, standing up and getting his gear.

“I don’t know, why? Did you hear what she said?” Chin asked.

“She said she had McGarrett,” Danny responded.

Chin jumped up and checked his weapon, but Danny stopped him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Danny asked.

“Where do you think?”

“Kelly, you can’t, you don’t have a badge. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”

“She’s my cousin, I’m going whether you like it or not.”

Danny grumbled something under his breath, but finally relented.

******************************

As they arrived on the scene, Danny told Kelly to hang back whilst he found out what had happened. Kalakaua was waving off paramedics, but looking a little worse for wear. That wasn’t entirely unexpected though, after all, she’d gone up against a former Navy SEAL on her own. It wasn’t her wisest decision, but Danny refrained from telling her that, he was sure she’d hear enough about it from the rest of the department over the next few days – or weeks.

“Officer Kalakaua,” Danny called as he approached, then waved his arm, indicating the scene, “What happened?”

“McGarrett came here and I tried to arrest him,” Kalakaua responded, making a flippant gesture, “I should’ve called in back up.”

Danny nodded and bit his lip, “Well, I mean, you did in the end. You okay?”

Kalakaua gave him an odd look, “I’m fine, but he got away.”

Danny looked around, watching other officers coming and going from the storage area. There were so many cops here, anyone would think they were at the scene of a murder. Clearly, the rest of the department were desperate to bring the so-called cop-killer to justice. He didn’t like McGarrett’s chances of being brought in alive. “Did he take anything?” Danny finally asked.

“He loaded a red toolbox into his vehicle. I’ve put out a BOLO on the car, but he’s probably dumped it by now,” Kalakaua responded.

“Probably,” Danny agreed, “Anything else?”

Kalakaua shook her head, “He spent about 20 minutes in the storage unit, but that’s all he brought out.”

“Okay, thanks Kalakaua. Your uh, cousin’s just over there,” Danny told her, indicating Kelly’s position with his head.

Kalakaua glanced over her shoulder, but her face closed off, “I don’t want to talk to him.”

Danny frowned, wondering what the hell had happened between the two of them. “Uh, okay, well he’s worried about you,” Danny responded.

“I don’t care,” Kalakaua told him, then walked back up the street, presumably back to her car.

Danny watched her go, noticing that Kelly had gone over to talk to her. He wished his new friend luck and turned back to the situation at hand. He followed the trail of officers to the open storage unit.

As he looked around the unit, he realised that if there was anything of value to McGarrett’s case here, it wouldn’t be there for long. There were too many nosey Nellys here, too many chances of someone picking up something they shouldn’t.

“Hey!” he called, flicking his fingers to get the officers attention, “Yes, you three imbeciles. Get outta my crime scene! How’re we supposed to get anything meaningful from any of this with you lot putting your gummy prints all over everything? Huh? Get out!”

Thankfully, the three officers didn’t question his authority and filed out of there. As they left, Danny turned around and called after them, “And make sure you tell your friends! This place is off limits!”

Danny nodded to himself. That would keep the window-lickers out for the moment, but he didn’t like his chances if anyone turned up that knew he’d been banned from going after anything to do with McGarrett. He’d be well and truly fucked if the Kaleo found out about this; he’d probably be kissing away more than just his job. He’d have to get out of here before the man turned up. 

He ran a hand through his hair as he tried to think of what to do next. He tapped his phone on his hand as a plan began to take shape. He dialed Kelly’s number and when he picked up, he forewent small talk, getting straight into it, “Babe, I need a favour.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! 
> 
> I wrote a lot of this when I was in quarantine, so I had a lot of time doing nothing but generating plots, but turns out I was looking more for to long term stuff. I have great plans for this fic, but it's one of those slow burn ones. I'm taking everything that you've said onboard and I'm working a way to make it more action packed! Give it a few chapters and they'll be more of what you're after - I promise!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	29. Chapter 29

Chin drove the long way around to enter the front carpark of the storage unit, just in case anyone was watching. He strolled into the office and got the attention of the white, middle aged, balding man who was manning the desk.

“Aloha,” Chin said, resting his forearm on the counter, “I need to get a storage space.”

The guy – Nigel, according to the name tag - leant back in his chair, “That’s what we’re here for, brah. How much space you need?”

“Well, I’m more of a visual guy… Do you have a map of the available ones?” Chin hedged.

“What, you need a view or something?” Nigel asked.

Chin frowned and pieced the puzzle together, “You have many people hire a unit to live in?”

Nigel shrugged and picked a map off the counter, “Wouldn’t be the first time. We discourage it, but it’s your space, your choice how you use it.”

Chin wasn’t sure what to say to that, so he looked at the colour-coded map instead. Nigel pointed at the set of units in blue that ran down one side of the compound, “Most of these are available, you can get one for – ”

“Actually, I was hoping for one of these,” Chin interrupted, pointed at the row that was adjacent to McGarrett’s unit. He read the legend at the bottom and fudged, “My aunt says any numbers that begin with four are good luck.”

Nigel gave him a strange look, but checked his computer and nodded, “Yep, 42 and 44 are free.”

Chin watched the map as Nigel showed him which ones they were. Unit 42 was closer to 50A and it was a good number. He nodded, “Okay, 42 it is. One more thing, is there CCTV around here?”

Nigel nodded, “Of course. Got four towers, here and here,” he responded, pointing at the places.

Chin nodded, “That’s great, I’ll take it.” 

Nigel had just lied to him; he had a terrible poker face. He would have to check later, but it seemed as though the towers weren’t working. Chin handed over his credit card to put down the deposit. 

A few minutes later, Chin was driving into the compound and driving up to his new storage locker. He unlocked the thing and looked around, whilst calling Danny, “I’m in.”

“I know, I saw. We’re going to have to be quick with this, more detectives and no doubt Kaleo too, will be on their way soon,” Danny responded, as he finished speaking, he walked into the locker.

Chin hung up and asked, “Did you see anything in there?”

“I saw lots of things,” Danny answered, gesturing for Chin to follow him, “I don’t know if we’ll find anything relevant to the case in there, but Kaleo will make it disappear if there’s anything. You mentioned John wasn’t the kind of guy to trust computers, right? There’s a bunch of paperwork in one of the boxes, might be something.”

“But it could be nothing,” Chin agreed, “Best to just grab everything.”

*****************************************************************

After driving a suitable distance, Steve disposed of his vehicle down a disused road. Then he doubled back on himself, keeping off the road whilst he looked for a set of wheels. He wandered into a wrecking yard and acquired a beat-up truck that looked like it was on its last legs. He’d even thrown some money at the guy who owned the place, making sure to pay him more than it was worth to keep the guy’s mouth shut.

He saw a couple of police cruisers on the road back, but they were all heading in the opposite direction and didn’t look twice at him. Pulling his cap down his face, he veered off the main road and followed dirt roads until he found his derelict house again. Sighing with relief, he covered the vehicle as best as he could and limped back to the house.

He didn’t like being outside in the open, it was just far too risky. Especially with what had happened today. He was tempted to call the blonde detective and ask if the rookie was okay, but he couldn’t afford to compromise his location.

Sitting down against the wall, Steve opened the toolbox and looked at its contents again. There was a mismatch of items inside, but nothing jumped out at him as being the smoking gun. He picked up the cassette recorder and rewound it to the beginning, then pressed play. His father’s voice filled the house, as he knew it would, and Steve tried not to get lost in the sound, it would only make him emotional again.

_“I can’t continue the investigation in the police department from the inside, I don’t trust the people I work with, so I’m gonna have to do this on my own.”_

Steve pressed pause and frowned. Maybe Toast had been right, this hadn’t been about him, it had been about his father’s investigation. _Had he been killed to silence him? What had he found out?_

Putting the recorder to the side for the moment, Steve picked out another item. It was a Japanese postcard with a bunch of stick men on them, with their arms in different positions. They looked like they were giving hand signals in Navy semaphore*. Steve started translating, but stopped when the signals stopped making sense. The first four letters spelt NLWO. He frowned, it must be in code.

He put the postcard down and picked up a brass key. He turned it over, looking for any markings, but nothing stood out. Shrugging, he put the key down as a photo caught his eye. Unlike the other things, it was clear what this was. He looked at the burnt out car and his thoughts turned to his mother. _Why did his father have the picture from when his mother died?_

Staring at the picture didn’t make it any clearer though. He hadn’t thought about his mom in so long. Although, if he was honest with himself, he’d probably thought about her when he’d been locked up. He’d thought about a lot of people in the two by four cell. He’d had a lot of time to think about a lot of things.

He finally put the photo down, but the frown didn’t leave his face. He couldn’t stop thinking about the photo and why his father had it. His frown deepened and he picked the photo up again, it looked like a crime scene photo. _How did his father even get the photo? Had he reopened his mother’s case? But more importantly, why?_

*********************************************************

Danny looked from Kelly back to the hoard in their storage locker; four boxes and a 3-draw filing cabinet. He thought they had everything from McGarrett’s storage space, but he’d never be sure. He also suspected that whatever McGarrett had taken was crucial.

“You better get outta here, brah,” Kelly told him, as he pulled down the garage door, “I have to get to work, see you later?”

Danny nodded and started walking back to McGarrett’s storage unit, “I’ll be there with bells and whistles.”

Kelly grinned and jumped into his truck. Danny gave him a wave as the man departed. Now he just needed to make a clean getaway. He closed the door to McGarrett’s unit and headed back to his car, but he knew as soon as he stepped out of the compound that he’d dawdled too long.

“Detective Williams, I thought I told you to stay away from this case,” Kaleo told him sternly.

Danny pursed his lips, “Actually, you told me to stop investigating it,” he pointed out, “Come on, Cap, I want this guy as much as anyone here. I didn’t know John McGarrett, sure, but Steve McGarrett is a cop killer, and you can’t keep me from trying to bring him to justice.”

Kaleo sighed, “You’re right. Now, get outta here, if you’ve finished the paperwork from the Reeves case, CPL Lukela has a case for you.”

So that was how he wanted to play this, giving Danny busy work so he couldn’t look into McGarrett’s case. Danny wanted to roll his eyes, but he didn’t think that would be a good look. Instead, he waved his hands, “Actually, I was on my way in to do the paperwork.”

Kaleo made a shooing motion, “Better go then, the work’s starting to stack up again.”

Danny nodded and left. He wondered if Kelly or White had run Kaleo’s financials yet, maybe the guy had gotten something more out of this than just the early promotion. He was far too invested in McGarrett for it just to be the extra stripe.

**************************************************************

Steve turned the medal around in his hand, his frown deepening as he did. He’d seen the medal before, but he didn’t think it was an American one. And it was old, maybe World War I or II. But he didn’t know why his father had it or what it had to do with this conspiracy.

He sighed heavily and put it down. There were so many things in this toolbox and a lot of it just didn’t make any sense. It was clear that his father was investigating something, but he hadn’t left any obvious clues about what that was.

He picked up a folded piece of paper and unfolded it to reveal of map of Japan. On the side of the thing was the word ‘Shelburne’.

“What the fuck is Shelburne?” Steve muttered to himself.

After a few minutes of staring at the map, he wasn’t surprised to find he was no closer to the answer than before. He folded up the map again and started putting the contents back in the box.

He picked up the postcard with the stick figures again and grinned. It was a good thing he knew a guy who’d done a course in cryptography. But he wouldn’t see Kamekona just yet, he needed to keep a low profile after what’d happened. Ideally, he’d wait several weeks before venturing out again, but he’d settle for overnight.

_________________________________________

*Navy semaphore is flag signals used over long distances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	30. Chapter 30

**27 April 2012**

Steve drove past Kamekona’s shop again and decided it would have to wait for another day. The warm weather had brought more tourists out of the air-conditioned hotel rooms and of course they all wanted shave ice. 

He suppressed a sigh and left. It was risky being this close to such a popular area anyway. Mind you, most of the island was a hot spot for one reason or another, which made it hard to just be. As he stopped at a set of traffic lights, he spied another ABC store on the other side of the intersection and his thoughts turned to booze again. 

It would be easy enough to just slip in and grab another few bottles of whisky and write off another week or so. He loved the escape it provided, however fleeting that feeling was. He could forget about how the last two years of his life had turned to shit. He should never have gotten out of bed the morning that Joe had told him about getting a lead on the Hesse brothers in South Korea.

The trouble with alcohol though was that he needed to drink so much of it to get that carefree feeling. And even then, it wasn’t 100% guaranteed. To be fair, more often than not, the drink just ended up making him feel more depressed about his situation. _Guess that’s why they call it a depressant, you asshole!_

Maybe the answer wasn’t alcohol. Maybe he needed something stronger. Maybe it was time to try some white powder… He’d always heard that cocaine made a guy feel happy, and it’s not like he had anything to lose by trying it. It’s not as though the Navy could drug test him and kick him out… again…

A car honking its horn at him brought him back from the depressing turn his thoughts had taken him. He took off at the lights and waved in apology at the car behind him. It didn’t bear to bring so much attention on himself. He needed to keep his head in the game if he was to complete the mission that he’d accepted. That mission: find out what the fuck the items in the ‘Champ’ toolbox meant. He wasn’t sure that it would help his case, but he figured, it couldn’t hurt it.

He drove across town and stopped outside the Pearl Harbour attraction. It wouldn’t be a good idea to go in again, but he needed to talk to Chin. The best idea was just to wait for him to come out and follow him home so they could have a private conversation. There was a post-it note in the toolbox that had a bunch of numbers that looked like a case number and Chin could probably find out what it was.

Reclining the seat so that he wouldn’t be seen easily, Steve made himself comfortable and tried to get some shut eye. But it was like the alcohol from his bender over the last few weeks had slowed down his thoughts, and now that his body was recovering, his mind had kicked back into gear and all sorts of thoughts were swirling around. 

As he waited, it occurred to him that Chin may not even be working today. Frowning, Steve called the shop and found that yes, Chin was there. He didn’t say anything, merely hanging up once he heard his friend’s voice. 

His friend. Chin was a good man. He’d tried helping Steve when this had all started and he’d paid the price. Steve just hoped that one day the man would be free of the vicious rumours that had circulated after his abrupt departure from the force. He didn’t know if the man would want to re-join HPD, but he hoped he’d get the option in either case.

**********************

It was getting dark when Chin finally closed up and came out to the carpark. Steve had started feeling anxious when the vast majority of cars left, there was no telling how good the security guards here were. He’d worried that they’d start looking more closely at the remaining cars, but thankfully, he didn’t need to find out.

Steve discreetly followed Chin, not wanting his friend to wig out or to get made following him. He’d only been to Chin’s house the once, but he realised after a while that they weren’t going that way. He frowned, making sure to keep his distance as Chin made some evasive manoeuvres that would ensure anyone else would lose him. But Steve knew Chin and more importantly, he knew these roads.

He nearly lost the man when he abruptly turned off a main road on a short cut, so Steve took the next turn at a leisurely pace, and somehow ended up in front of him. It wasn’t ideal, but he could make it work. 

Eventually, Chin felt comfortable enough to begin driving normally and then he parked in front of an unfamiliar house. Steve passed him, continuing down the road and around the corner. He waited for five minutes before heading back to the house. He wasn’t sure what he expected to see, but it looked normal from the outside. There were no other cars there, suggesting that Chin was alone.

Steve finally parked and started slowly walking towards the house. He should have just talked to Chin in the car park, something about this whole scenario had him on edge. But he couldn’t understand why. He decided to listen to his instincts, drawing his weapon as he entered the house.

He tried to remind himself that he was asking a friend for a favour, so walking into his house uninvited could be bad for his health. “Chin?” he called.

“Steve?” Chin responded from the second room on his right.

Steve walked into the room and squinted against the bright light. What he saw took his breath away. There were articles and papers and drawings and things all over the walls, plus two white boards. And everything looked like it was to do with his case. But probably more surprisingly, was seeing his C.O. in amongst it all.

“Joe?” he asked, lowering his weapon, “What’re you doing here?” 

“You shouldn’t be here, son,” Joe told him, standing up from the table.

Steve frowned, wondering how much the man knew about what he’d been up to lately. He’d always looked up to Joe, considered him more of a father figure than his boss. But in either case, he would’ve had certain expectations of Steve. Expectations that he hadn’t fulfilled. 

He swallowed thickly and tried to give the man a situation report, the words flowed through his mind, but the only thing that made it through was, “Victor Hesse is dead.”

“No, he isn’t,” Joe replied, shaking his head, “He was treated at a Vet Hospital just north of where you shot him. He’s gone to ground again, but we think he’s trying to get off the island.”

Steve felt like he needed to sit down, he was sure that Victor had been dead when he left him. “No. No, he… I mean, I killed him,” Steve responded, frowning at his old C.O., “I’m sure of it. He’s dead and now –”

“Now we need to find him. He’s still very much alive,” Joe argued, “We canvassed all medical clinics and vets and got a hit from this place. Chin went out there and showed him a photo and he positively identified Hesse. He’s alive, Steve.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Steve muttered, his mind ablaze with what this meant for him. He frowned at his mentor, “Why’s the vet still alive?”

“We don’t know,” Chin responded, then he looked at his watch and glanced at Joe, “Danny will be here soon.”

“The detective?” Steve asked, suddenly feeling panicky, “The one that’s chasing me?”

“He’s helping us, Steve, he’s onboard. But it would be best if you weren’t here when he arrived,” Joe answered.

“Okay, uh, okay,” Steve nodded and turned to Chin. He handed him the post-it note with the number on it, “Yeah, I’m not staying. I think this might be a case number. I found my father’s toolbox, apparently he wanted me to have it. There’s a bunch of things in there, I think he was investigating something that made him a target.”

“Toolbox?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, he left clues in there. The toolbox was in the storage unit,” Steve responded.

Chin exchanged a glance with Joe, “Guess that explains why we’ve found nothing but bank statements and so forth in there. Your father didn’t leave anything of value where anyone else would find it.”

“Come on, son, tell me about the other items,” Joe told him, gesturing for Steve to walk and talk on the way back out of the house.

Steve gave a quick wave to Chin, before preceding his C.O. outside, he led the way back to his ‘hired’ car, trying not to think about all the reasons this was a bad idea. When the man finally joined him, Steve swallowed down the apology that wanted to bubble to the surface, Joe wouldn’t accept it and he didn’t want to seem weak in front of his mentor. Instead, he nodded to the backseat as he started the engine, “Toolbox is back there.”

Joe looked at the backseat long enough to see the box, but didn’t make a move to grab it. “How’re you doing, son?”

“I’m still alive, Sir,” Steve responded, trying to ignore what the other man was asking.

“Steve.”

And that’s all Joe needed to say. Steve wanted to rant and rave, and accuse his C.O. about not acting when he could have acted. He wanted to hit the man so hard and feel the satisfaction of hearing something break… But.

But it wasn’t his fault. And there was nothing he could have done. There was probably still very little he _could_ do. 

It didn’t make it hurt any less though. 18 months was a long time, and it wasn’t time he could get back. And that wasn’t even considering the fact that the country still thought he was guilty of killing his father. 

“Go left in a mile,” Joe told him, ignoring that Steve hadn’t responded to his earlier question.

Steve glanced at Joe but did what he asked. Several minutes later, after following more of Joe’s directions, they ended up at a rundown looking motel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	31. Chapter 31

After Joe grabbed them a room, Steve followed with the toolbox. He lay everything out on the desk, then stood back, hoping his mentor could come up with something. 

“Have you decoded any of this yet?” Joe asked instead.

Steve shrugged, “More questions than answers. I thought I had the start of something with this.” He picked up the postcard with the figures on it, “Thought it was Navy Semaphore, but…”

Joe looked at the postcard for a moment, but shook his head and tapped it against his hand, “I’ve got someone who can decode it. Anything else?”

“Got any records of older medals in Hawaii?” Steve asked, holding up the medal, “Figure it’s World War I or II – wouldn’t know without consulting some books…”

Joe stared at the medal and asked Steve to pass it to him. He held it with such a reference that his next words were hardly a surprise, “I know who this belongs to.”

****************

**28 April 2012**

_“When he was five years old, I asked my son Steve what he wanted to be when he grew up. “I want to be a cop dad, like you.” I told him, “Be anything but that.” The life of a cop is not easy, it’s not that I’m not proud of the work that I did, but more than anything, I have…regrets._

Joe put the car in park and glanced at Steve, “Stay here, okay? I’ll be back.”

Steve pressed pause on the recorder and looked out the window, “Did you know about his investigation?”

“Only what he told me over the phone, which wasn’t a lot. He didn’t trust the connection,” Joe responded.

“He had all these secrets, Joe, and they got him killed. You know, if I’d known – ”

“You can’t think like that, son,” Joe interrupted, “What ifs, buts, maybes… What’s done is done, we’ve gotta live in the here and now. And right now, your father wanted you to meet Mokoto.”

Steve looked at Joe with glassy eyes, but nodded. He turned his attention back out the window and hit play on the recorder again.

_“The toll that it took on my family, the way it hurt them, it’s something I think about everyday. Now I’m alone here. Losing my wife was almost unbearable, but giving up my kids, that…just broke me. I’m so proud of them, but they never know it. I missed so much of their lives, watching them grow up and all, but I guess that’s just the way it has to be, till I figure this out.”_

Joe closed the door, drowning out sounds of the rest of the recording. He walked up to the front door, hoping that this man had the answers to at least some of their questions. 

******************

Steve sat down opposite Kideki Mokoto, wondering why the man wanted to talk to him. He glanced at Joe, who just gave a small nod and leant against the wall.

“You have his eyes,” Mokoto told him, watching him with such intensity that Steve had to look away.

Steve knew he should say something, but nothing seemed fitting. “How did you know him?” he eventually asked.

Mokoto studied him for a moment longer, before starting his tale. “I met your father at a memorial for the Arizona, where your grandfather died. I approached John and asked for his forgiveness, ultimately we became friends.”

Steve nodded, then asked, but it was more of a statement, “And you gave him your medal?”

Mokoto slowly nodded, “It didn’t seem right to keep it. That’s why I dedicated my life to cleaning up the island, a personal atonement of sorts. I regret that it led to John’s death, he was a good cop and a great friend.”

“What do you mean? How?” Steve asked, trying to connect the pieces of the puzzle. 

“I was upset with the corruption in the police department and local politics, so I hired John. I asked him to secretly conduct an investigation and I’m afraid that it’s led us to where we are now,” Mokoto explained, “He told me that he had evidence that would prove the Governor was in league with the Yakuza and Wo Fat.”

“What evidence?” 

“John didn’t tell me.”

“And who’s Wo Fat?”

Joe pushed himself off the wall, “Son of Yao and Lei Kuan Fat. We have reason to believe Hesse and the Yakuza report to him, he’s the connection – ”

Joe was suddenly interrupted by a hail of bullets blasting through the room, breaking the window and thudding into the walls. The three men dove to the floor in an attempt to dodge the bullets.

“Take cover!!!” Joe yelled, not that they needed to be told. 

“Expecting company?!” Steve shouted at Mokoto, drawing his sidearm.

“Steve!” Joe shouted to get his attention, then pointed towards the kitchen.

Steve kept low as he scarpered over the floor to get to a good vantage point in the kitchen. As soon as there was a break in the hailstorm, Steve fired at the two men he spotted through the window. Both dropped quickly, apparently they hadn’t considered they’d get fired upon. 

He looked back at Joe and saw him crouched next to the window in the lounge room, firing out at the main shooters. Steve spied a door heading out to the back garden, so slowly opened it and checked that it was clear before inching out.

The main shooters were firing again, making Steve hope that Joe could cover the main door too if he disappeared. There wasn’t time to check though, this would only work if he had the element of surprise. Steve went down the stairs, only just making it to the bottom before he saw another shooter come around the back, supposedly looking for the other two gang-bangers. But Steve saw him before he saw Steve, and Steve dropped him before he could fire at him. 

Steve hoped he hadn’t just given away his position. He went around the side to get a good look at the main shooters; there were six of them. He managed to get three of them, before they even realised he was there. As they turned their attention to him, Joe disposed of another one, before they finally wised up and took cover.

“Targets at 6 and 8 o’clock, 30 feet, reference the shed!” Steve yelled at Joe.

“I’ve got 6!” Joe called back.

The attackers didn’t stand a chance from there. As soon as they popped up again, Joe and Steve dispatched them.

Steve breathed a sigh of relief, but didn’t lower his guard. He walked forward to check the men were dead, when he was satisfied they were, he looked up at Joe. “Do you know how many there were?”

But before Joe could respond, something pushed him to the ground with the force of a truck going at 100 mph. Then he heard the tell-tale sound of the gunfire; a double-tap. Steve looked down in confusion and pressed a hand to his chest. It came away bloody. 

He heard more gunfire, but he didn’t feel anything.

“Joe?” he asked as the world spun dizzily.

“Steve!!!” he heard Joe yell, but it sounded like he was down a tunnel.

Steve blinked slowly, trying to understand, but darkness claimed him before it made any sense.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	32. Chapter 32

Joe watched Steve pitch forward into the grass and bolted for the front door.

“Joe,” Mokoto stopped him, before he got to the door.

“I’ll be right back,” Joe told him, without turning around.

“No, you won’t,” Mokoto replied, making Joe finally stop.

“I’ve gotta get to Steve,” Joe told him shortly.

“The police will be on their way, you need to go,” Mokoto responded, “Take Steve and go. But would you call me an ambulance?”

“Ambulance?” Joe asked, then he saw Mokoto remove his hand from his chest to reveal a large bloodstain.

“I’ll be fine, it’s just a through and through.”

“Bullshit!” Joe snapped.

“Joe, I can’t have Steve die as well, I don’t want another McGarrett dying because of me. Now, go!”

Joe swallowed his emotions, “Farewell, friend.”

With that, he left the house, taking care to do a quick sweep of the surrounds before he went out. He knelt next to Steve and gave him a once over, there wasn’t a lot he could do here and not without help. At least the man was still alive, but he wouldn’t be for long if he didn’t do something. He quickly took off his shirt and packed the wounds as best as he could, before picking Steve up and taking him back to the car. 

As he sped away, he made two phone calls. The first to dispatch an ambulance for Mokoto. The second was to Commander Wade Gutches.

“Wade, activate Operation Strawberry Fields, loc 4 Delta,” Joe told him. 4 Delta was the closest location of the four places they’d chosen, he just hoped Wade could get it ready in time for their arrival.

_“Roger, ETA?”_

Joe calculated the quickest route, it’d take a normal person between 25-30 minutes, but Joe didn’t plan on dawdling. “20 Mike.”

_“It’ll be ready in 15.”_

Joe hung up and pressed down the accelerator, he wasn’t going to give up on his man now.

*********************

Kono parked as close to the crime scene as she could, which wasn’t close at all. She would’ve been closer if she’d parked at the precinct as walked the whole way. Or at least, that’s how it felt to her. She’d been sure that she was the closest unit too, but half the department were here already.

She stopped just before crossing the crime scene tape and tried to see what was going on, but the perimeter had been set back far from the house. _To hell with it_ , she thought and ducked underneath the tape. She’d be more use on this side anyway, she could even put to use that Basic Crime Scene Investigation course, except she’d left the kit in the car. 

“Whoa, that’s far enough,” a young police cadet told her, approaching her with his hand out to stop her, “Let me see your credentials.”

“Um,” Kono said, then gestured down at her uniform, then looked back at his, “Where’s yours?”

“I’m Officer Pua Kai,” the man introduced himself.

“You’re still a cadet,” Kono corrected him.

“Not for much longer,” Pua responded.

“Do you know what happened here?” Kono asked, watching the goings on behind Pua. She saw a number of the detectives standing around and she was sure she wouldn’t get passed them, so best to gather intel where she could.

Pua shook his head, “They’re still trying to figure it out. Two dead, and the owner, Kideki Mokoto is in a critical condition in hospital. They think McGarrett did it.”

Kono frowned, “Why?”

Pua shrugged, “Why does anyone do anything? Mokoto was a Japanese pilot and bombed Pearl Harbour and you know, they said that McGarrett’s grandfather was killed on the Arizona…”

“So..? What? They think McGarrett tried to kill Mokoto for revenge?” Kono asked skeptically, “And who were the other two who were killed?”

Pua shrugged again, “Bodyguards?”

************************************

Joe watched through the plastic sheeting as the doc worked on Steve, he just hoped it wasn’t too little, too late.

“What happened, Joe?” Wade asked as he stood beside him.

Joe glanced at his friend, “I don’t know. Mokoto wanted to talk to Steve himself, so we went in and they talked. Then out of nowhere… How did the Yakuza know we’d be there? I didn’t even know we’d be there until last night and we weren’t followed.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.”

“You think they were watching the old man?”

Joe shook his head, then shrugged, “Maybe. But why?”

“Well, you said yourself that he had more links to the McGarrett’s than asking John to investigate corruption,” Wade hedged.

“You think they found out that Mokoto bought the McGarrett house?” Joe asked.

“Or they found out he was the one pulling John’s strings, maybe they thought he knew something,” Wade responded, “Did he?”

“Know something?” Joe clarified, then answered, “John told him he had evidence that Hesse and the Yakuza reported to Wo Fat, but he didn’t say what or where the evidence was.”

“That’s helpful,” Wade deadpanned, “Does Steve know who Wo Fat is yet?”

Joe shook his head, “I didn’t get the chance to explain. Maybe it’s best he doesn’t know that story just yet. Shelbourne’s working that angle.”

“Shelbourne’s here?” Wade asked, staring at his friend.

Joe nodded and looked back at Steve, “Who do you think broke him out of prison?”

*******************************************

Kono frowned as she made her way through the precinct to Captain Kaleo’s office, wondering why she’d been summoned. Maybe it had something to do with her trying to get into the crime scene today, or worse, maybe it was about getting bested by McGarrett at the storage unit.

“Officer Kalakaua, come in, take a seat,” Kaleo greeted her. He waved her in and closed the door behind her. “I bet you’re wondering what you’re doing in here?”

“Yes, Sir,” she answered, she found it was always best to be straight her answers, no use suggesting things that could give away something he didn’t already know.

Kaleo smiled and sat down opposite her, “Well, I won’t keep you waiting in suspense any longer. You’re Chin Ho Kelly’s cousin, correct?”

“In blood only,” Kono responded.

Kaleo grinned, “So, I take it there’s no love lost between the two of you?”

“If the rumours are to be believed, Sir, and everyone here _does_ believe them, then my cousin broke the law. I became a police officer to serve and protect, but everyone here tarnishes me with the same brush. So, in answer to your question, Sir, no, there is no love lost between us,” Kono responded.

“Let me ask you a question then; if you had caught your cousin doing what he is rumoured to have done, would you have arrested him?” Kaleo asked.

“If I had caught him helping a murder suspect escape, yes,” Kono answered, then frowned at Kaleo, “I have a question for you in return, Sir, why wasn’t he arrested? If it was as black and white as everyone here thinks it was, then why wasn’t he charged?”

“You ask good questions, Kalakaua, I like that about you,” Kaleo answered, “I have an offer for you, how would you like to earn back the respect of the precinct?”

Kono’s frown deepened, alarm bells going off in her head, and not only because the Captain had avoided answering her question, “I’m listening.”

“We think your cousin is up to his old tricks again, this time helping McGarrett remain a fugitive. I heard you were at the scene of the shooting earlier today, correct?” when Kono nodded, Kaleo continued, “Bloodwork came back from the scene and it’s a match to McGarrett. We think he deliberately targeted Mokoto, but we’re not sure why yet. We _do_ know he’s responsible for the shooting though and I suspect that Chin Ho Kelly is helping him.”

“You want me to spy on my cousin?” Kono asked, her gut turning over at the thought. After all, he was still family.

“Don’t think of it as spying, Kono, think of it as helping us uphold the law. We need to bring McGarrett to justice, he killed a cop. A cop, just like you and me. I’m asking you to get close to your cousin again and report your findings back to me, and I promise there may even be more in this for you than just the respect of the department,” Kaleo replied.

Kono frowned, “Like what?”

“Let’s just say that to get to the top, sometimes you have to play a little dirty,” Kaleo hinted.

Kono stared at him for a moment, then schooled her expression. It wouldn’t be a good idea to tell him to fuck off and report him to IA, even if that’s what her instincts were screaming at her to do. She was beginning to believe that there was more going on here than she knew about, and she had to get to the bottom of it. And there was only one way to do that. “Okay, I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is a longer chapter than I've normally been writing because there wasn't a lot going on. I was going to aim to write a chapter for a 'day', but they would be incredibly long and thus, there would be more time inbetween updates, so see how this goes for a while.
> 
> Better chapters to come soon - I promise! I've rejigged the story line a bit. Hope you like it!

Chin got off the phone from Joe. His mind replayed the message he’d been told, not so much the words, Joe had been talking in code. Joe had taken Steve to Mokoto’s house, but the Yakuza had found them there and fired upon them. Mokoto had been injured and Joe didn’t know if he’d make it, but Steve had been injured too.

Joe had taken him to a makeshift medical room, where they’d removed the bullets, and now they were just waiting to see how well he’d recover. The doc – hopefully a real one – said that Steve was stable, but critical.

Chin rubbed at his face, “I’m getting too old for this.”

But nobody answered his statement. Joe said he wouldn’t leave Steve’s side until he was convinced the man was okay. And Danny hadn’t come back from whatever job HPD had tasked him to do today. So it was just Chin holding down the fort. 

He looked back at the board and tried to pick up the thread he’d been pulling on. He looked at the blurred picture of Kouji Noshimuri again, and ran yet another search for him. The man was a ghost, he’d tried every variation of spelling the man’s name that he could come up with, but still just hit dead ends. As he took out the man’s first name, to run searches of ‘Noshimuri’, his phone rang.

Chin looked at the caller ID on his screen in surprise, then suspicion, “Aloha Kono.”

_“Hey Cuz!” Kono greeted him, sounding way too excited, particularly after how their last meeting went, “Wow, sorry, that was… Listen, can we catch up? Maybe tomorrow? I need to talk to you. And it would be best if we met in private.”_

“What’s wrong?” Chin asked, suddenly fearing the worst.

_“Nothing’s wrong, can’t a gal just catch up with her cousin? Maybe grab some loco moco?”_

Chin frowned at the phone; either his cousin had lost her mind or she was deliberately using the codewords they’d set up when they were kids, “With an extra egg right?”

_Kono laughed, but it sounded put upon, “Not an extra egg, cuz, it has to be extra gravy.”_

So whatever it was, was urgent, but not life-threatening. “Count me in, girl, I can never say no to some loco moco.”

************************************************

**29 April 2012**

Danny grunted, throwing one of the garbage bags out of the dumpster. He was sure there were other people who could be doing this, but everyone had conveniently scampered when he voiced aloud his theory that the murder weapon was here. Of course, he’d called after the officers, but their ear drums must’ve been as thick as their heads.

He’d muttered under his breath that it was fine, he’d do it, then had jumped in and got busy. The sooner this case was over, the sooner he could get back to working on McGarrett’s case. He just wished he hadn’t worn his good shoes to work today, he knew better. 

In theory, this was an open and shut case anyway. Or would be, just as soon as he located the murder weapon. Officers responding to the shooting had come across their suspect legging it in the opposite direction, so they’d given chase. The stupid idiot was sitting in the back of a squad car, thinking that he’d gotten away with it because he’d ditched the weapon. It was like he’d never watched an episode of… _any_ of the hundreds of billions of the law and order tv shows.

“Can I help you, detective?” 

Danny raised his head and threw another garbage bag on the ground. Officer Kalakaua was standing there, smirking at him. Danny grinned back, “I take it you drew the short straw.”

Kalakaua nodded at him, “Says you.”

Danny chuckled and watched her put some gloves on, then jump in. He gestured to the back end of the dumpster, “I’ve searched most of that side already.”

Kalakaua nodded, “And you’re chucking out the bigger items to see better, right?”

“Yeah,” Danny responded, chucking out another big bag.

They continued working for a while, then Kalakaua stopped and asked, “Can I ask you something?”

Danny stopped too and wiped his forehead with his shoulder, “I think you just did.”

Kalakaua gave a small smile, then asked, “What would you do if you thought someone you worked with was doing the wrong thing? But you didn’t have any evidence of it and you didn’t know what _it_ was.”

“What do you think _it_ is?”

Kalakaua shrugged, corruption came to mind. But the Captain had only been asking her to do her job, but for a personal gain. “I don’t know enough yet.”

Danny watched her for a moment, “You know, when I was in Jersey, I suspected my partner was up to something. I investigated him and testified against him in his trial.”

“What did he do?”

“Stole money and drugs from various crime scenes we’d investigated,” Danny responded, “I helped put him away for 10 years.”

“Is that why you left?” Kalakaua asked, picking up another big garbage bag and tossing it.

“No, I left because – ” Danny responded, but stopped when his phone started ringing, the tune telling him it was Rachel.

“You going to get that?” 

Danny shook his head and spread his hands to indicate the dumpster, “And miss doing this? Nah, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

Kalakaua chuckled and started getting to work. After a moment, his phone stopped ringing, only to restart seconds later.

“Someone’s persistent,” Kalakaua muttered.

Danny grunted, but refrained from saying anything. If Rachel was this desperate to get a hold of him, there was probably a good reason. He ripped off a glove and got his phone out, “What? Rachel? I’m in the middle of a – ”

_“Danny, Grace is sick.”_

“What do you mean? Is she okay?” Danny asked, going from irritated at his ex to worried for his daughter so fast, it made his head spin, “What happened?”

_I think she has the chickenpox.”_

Danny sighed with relief, at least it wasn’t life threatening, “Oh, well, that’s not as bad as I thought. Why didn’t you just say that to begin with? You know what, don’t worry about it.”

_“Danny, can she stay at your place? I know it’s not ideal, but I can’t risk Charlie catching it. Please, I wouldn’t ask if – ”_

“Of course,” Danny interrupted, there was no way he’d give up spending more time with his precious monkey. It’d make it hard to work on McGarrett’s case though and he’d probably be benched, effectively quarantined until after the infectious period. Danny sighed, Rachel was right, this wasn’t ideal.

_“Oh thank god, thank you Danny. I don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d said no.”_

“Probably yell at me,” Danny answered, then continued before Rachel decided to do that anyway, “Where is she?”

_“With me, I’ll be at your place in 10.”_

Danny shook his head silently, thinking not for the first time that Rachel thought he spent his days at home, doing nothing. “Rachel, I’m at work. I won’t be able to get home for another hour or so.”

_“Oh, you’re not at home? Well, do you have a key somewhere and – ”_

“I’m not going to let you leave our eight-year-old daughter at my place on her own!” Danny exclaimed, ignoring the look Kalakaua sent him. He took a deep breath and tried to be reasonable, “Look, if you don’t want to stay with her – ”

_“I don’t want to get infected, Daniel! If I get – ”_

“Rachel! Rachel, listen to me! Okay? If you let me finish, I was going to tell you to take Grace to the station, okay? I’m sure Meka can keep an eye on her until I get there,” Danny exclaimed.

_“What? Why? Where are you?”_

“I told you, I’m at a crime scene, Rachel!” Danny replied, wondering when everything with Rachel had become so hard. “You remember Meka, right?”

_“He was your first partner when you got here, yes I remember.”_

“Good. Leave Grace with Meka and I’ll be there as soon as I can, okay? I’ve gotta go,” Danny responded, thanking his lucky stars when Rachel agreed, then hung up.

Kalakaua gave him a pained look when he put the phone in his pocket, “You’re leaving me here, aren’t you?”

Danny snorted at the pitiful look on the rookie’s face, “Yeah, babe. But I’ll send some help, I want that weapon found.”

“I can be your go-between if you want?” Kalakaua offered, “I mean, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you’ll be stuck at home for a while. I’m happy to help out, put this case to rest.”

Danny climbed out of the dumpster and frowned back at the officer, “Why?”

Kalakaua shrugged, “I keep getting the shitty assignments and I want to make myself useful. You know, actually make a difference for a change.”

Danny nodded, “Sure. Gimme a call when you find the weapon, and get it down to the lab.”

Kalakaua grinned at him, “Yes, sir.”

************************************

“Danno!” a whirlwind of a eight-year-old girl threw itself at Danny as he entered the precinct.

Danny grinned and knelt down to scoop her up when Grace jumped at him, “Monkey! Oh, look at you, you’re getting so big!”

Grace giggled, “You said that last time.”

“It was true last time too,” Danny replied, putting her back down, subconsciously putting his hand on her forehead. She felt warm. He inwardly sighed, thinking about the days ahead. “Let’s say we get outta here, huh? You want some ice cream? Or shave ice? Huh?”

“Yes please,” Grace agreed, then she turned to Meka, who was grinning at them both, “Thanks, Uncle Meka.”

“You remember what the Hawaiian word for that is, don’t you?” Meka asked, winking at Danny.

Grace’s grin got wider, “Mahalo.”

“No problem, little one,” Meka responded, holding his hand in the shaka gesture.

“Yeah, thanks babe,” Danny added, clapping Meka’s arm. Then he thought of something and decided to give it a shot, he lowered his voice as he asked, “Hey, who was the old Captain before Kaleo?”

“You mean Captain Kealoha?” Meka asked, frowning at him. 

“Yeah. Why’d he leave?”

“He retired,” Meka replied, then added, “He was kinda young though. Why?”

Danny chewed on his bottom lip, deciding to give his friend a half-truth, “I uh, I mean, I stumbled on something that makes me think he was pushed out.”

Meka made his ‘thinking’ face, then looked around and lowered his voice, “To make way for Kaleo?”

Danny shrugged and answered lowly, “Yeah, maybe.”

Meka frowned at him, but nodded, “I’ll ah, I’ll look into it.”

“Thanks man,” Danny replied, then turned back to Grace, “Hey monkey! What are we still doing here? I thought you said we were going?”

***************************************

Joe watched Steve’s chest rise and fall, the tubes making hissing sounds as it did. The nurse pressed some buttons on one of the monitors, then went back to her position at the foot of the bed. It’d been the same thing over and over for hours, but at least Steve was alive, and stable.

He felt a coffee get pushed into his hand, which he accepted gratefully, “Thanks, Wade.”

Wade nodded to the bed, “How’s he doing?”

“Same,” Joe said with a shrug, “Doc said the next 24-48 hours would be critical, he’s keeping him sedated to allow his body to rest, something Steve has never been good at.”

“How about you?”

“Plenty of time to rest when this is over,” Joe responded, glancing at Wade for a moment. He took a sip of the coffee and nodded, “You heading back to the office?”

Wade nodded, “I’ll be missed if I’m not there.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll be lost without you,” Joe replied.

“Like you’re any better,” Wade said, with a smile, “You going to be okay?”

“I’ll be better once we have the answers and get Steve exonerated,” Joe answered. When Wade gave him a concerned look, Joe nodded, “I’ll be fine, go.”

“Call me if you need anything,” Wade responded, clapping him on the shoulder, before departing.

*****************************************

Chin glanced up from his table by the beach as he noticed someone approaching. As he looked up, he was happy to see his cousin had made it to the rendezvous, not that it made him feel any less suspicious of her. She had changed out of her police uniform into casual clothes for their meeting, not that he knew whether or not she was still on duty.

“Cousin!” Kono greeted him happily, as though nothing had happened between them, then gave him a small hug.

Chin gave her a smile, then gestured at the nearby trucks, “Loco moco?”

“Actually, I really feel like some garlic shrimp,” Kono answered, then turned back to him with a wince, “But I think we should talk first, right?”

Chin nodded, “I think so.”

Chin let Kono lead the way down to the beach, letting her take her time with the discussion too. She would say what she needed to say in due course. Kono took off her loafers and padded through the water, then turned back to Chin with a regretful smile, “I miss the lifestyle, you know?”

“Surfing?” Chin asked as he joined her.

Kono nodded, “I had it all laid out. I was going to make it big and just coast from one tournament to another, just living the dream.”

“You still go out?”

Kono shook her head, “Not since what happened with you 18 months ago, the water was just never the same.”

Chin didn’t know how to respond to that, so he didn’t say anything. It wasn’t as though he’d taught her to surf, but he had spent a lot of time in the water with her.

“You know, you never actually told me what happened, Cuz,” Kono told him.

“You never asked.”

“I’m asking now.”

“Why now?”

Kono sighed and looked back over the water, “Because I asked Captain Kaleo why you were never arrested for what they say you did, but he avoided the question.” Kono turned back to him to see his response, before adding, “He wants me to spy on you to get information on McGarrett.”

“I don’t know anything about McGarrett,” Chin answered slowly, trying to understand what his cousin was pulling here.

“Why does Kaleo think differently?” Kono asked, then raised her voice as she followed up with, “Why did he try to sweeten the deal with me by suggesting I could get promoted if I did it? What’s going on, Chin?! Just tell me the truth, okay? I can take it! I’ve already been accepted into the California City Police Department, pending a security check.”

“You’re leaving?” Chin asked.

“Nobody here takes me seriously!” Kono exclaimed, “I have to leave! What I don’t understand is why everyone goes around telling this story about you as though it was crystal clear what happened, but you were never charged! They tell the story ‘according to gospel’, but apparently there was no shred of proof! If there had been, you would be in prison!”

Chin sighed, “I was given an ultimatum by Kaleo, he was a lieutenant then. I noticed things in McGarrett’s case were going missing from evidence, things like the ballistics report pointing to an arms dealer that was replaced by a report pointing to McGarrett’s weapon. There were other things, but… I’d seen enough and I didn’t know who to turn to. So I made the decision to move McGarrett to a safe house, I filed the paperwork as necessary.

“Next thing I know, I’m getting stopped by Kaleo and Henderson. They told me to forget about the case or end up behind bars. I didn’t have a leg to stand on, so I backed down, and I wish to this day that I’d called them on it, then and there. I kept a copy of the paperwork for the transfer though, because there’s no telling when that will come in handy if HPD ever decided to press charges on the matter. And before you ask, I checked, the paperwork was never filed.”

“Does your copy have the stamps?” Kono asked.

Chin grinned, “I kept the original copy, Cuz, stamps and everything.”

“So what happened to the guy who received the paperwork for the transfer? And who’s this Henderson guy?”

“Henderson _was_ the guy who handled that paperwork. He ‘committed suicide’ a week after I left the force,” Chin responded.

“That’s convenient,” Kono remarked, then frowned at him, “So, you have been helping McGarrett since he escaped?”

Chin sighed, “Kono, Steve’s innocent. And for your information, I’ve been continuing to work on his case since he was convicted, for all the good it’s done me.” 

“Then let me help!” Kono exclaimed, “At least once, let me feel like a real cop, making a difference.”

Chin studied his cousin for a moment, before finally coming to a decision, “Okay. I have just the job for you, there’s a storage unit I rented out…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	34. Chapter 34

**30 April 2012**

Chin looked up from his monitor when he heard he had company, but the sound of the truck was familiar, so he wasn’t worried about it. And sure enough, Joe walked into the room a few moments later.

Joe looked around the room with a frown, “Danny still hasn’t come back?”

Chin sighed and shook his head, “Kaleo kept him busy with case work and now he’s working from home because his daughter caught the chicken pox.”

“Sounds delightful,” Joe deadpanned.

“Well, he said it at least gives him the time and space to focus on something other than the cases Kaleo’s been shoving at him. Except now, he has to contend with his eight-year-old instead,” Chin responded with a grin, “Anyway, speaking of Kaleo, he knows we’re up to something. He asked my cousin to get close to me and report back to him.” 

Joe frowned, then asked, but it was more of a statement, “Kono came to you?”

“Yeah,” Chin responded, “She told me she had her suspicions about him. He made the mistake of trying to make the deal sweeter by suggesting there would be more in it for her than the department’s respect. So, I’ve given her the keys to the storage unit to sort through.”

Joe nodded, “I doubt there’s anything there, looks like John kept the clues to his investigation in the toolbox. But we can use this to our advantage.”

“That’s what I thought and I think Kono would be happy to feed back to Kaleo what we ask her to,” Chin responded. “How’s Steve?”

Joe gave a small smile, “He’s looking a bit better. The doc’s even weaning him off the sedative, he should be more alert this afternoon. Have you made any headway?”

Chin nodded and held up the post-it note that Steve had given him before he’d left with the number on it, “Steve was right about this number, it’s a case number from when everything was logged manually. I reached out to someone in archives that I can trust, and he got back to me an hour ago. Get this though, the file’s missing.”

“Did you get any information about it?”

Chin levelled him with a gaze that told him he would find this interesting, “The file was opened on the 19th of April, 1992.”

Joe paused for a moment and returned Chin’s look, “That’s the day of Steve’s mom’s car accident.”

“Yes, but it wasn’t listed as an accident report, it was listed as a homicide,” Chin replied, watching as Joe processed the information. He frowned as Joe didn’t react the same way he had, but chose to stow the information away for a later time.

“So, John was looking into her death again,” Joe eventually said, “Explains the photos from the crime scene.”

Chin nodded, “I mean, it sounds like he was investigating at least two separate cases. That of his wife’s murder, which we know from the case number and the photos, and that of the HPD corruption case, which we know from Mokoto’s medal, and I’d bet there’s more evidence in there that points to that case.”

Joe agreed with him, then dumped the red ‘Champ’ toolbox on the table, next to the laptops, “The rest of the clues are in here, and hopefully the smoking gun is here too.”

Chin opened the toolbox and briefly looked through the contents, “This is… less than I expected, but it’ll still take some time to go through and I know we’re no longer running against the clock because Steve is no longer in prison, but…”

“But he can’t run forever and if he was caught, the Governor wouldn’t move his execution date just because he wasn’t sitting in prison for the last however long?” Joe suggested.

Chin shrugged, “If Steve is caught before we clear his name, the minimum time the state needs to order supplies and go through the other necessary processes, is three weeks.”

“Something that the Governor will push as close to the line as possible if we’re right about her involvement,” Joe added. Then he nodded, “I’ll make some phone calls, it’s time to bring in some backup.”

Chin sighed in relief, “It’s just that he’s more vulnerable now that he’s injured… again. And we just had another worker at the shop quit, so I’ve had to pick up extra shifts until they fill the vacancy. You know, it’s taken 18 months to get to where we are now and I feel like we’re no closer to - ”

“Chin, it’s okay, I get it,” Joe interrupted, “I was thinking the same thing anyway. I’ve also sent _this_ to a friend in intel to decode.”

Chin looked up again and saw Joe holding up a postcard with a bunch of stick figures on it, he tilted his head at it, “Looks familiar.”

“I’d bet it’s encrypted, like a word scrambler, once we decode it, we’ll need to unscramble it,” Joe answered.

“Well, _that_ , my friend, is a problem for after work,” Chin told him, then patted him on his shoulder, “I’ve gotta go, see you later tonight.”

***************************************

Gibbs watched DiNozzo from afar, he knew it was only a matter of time. The man had just come back – and probably a few days too early – from getting over the flu, and it was plain to see that he was still recovering. His senior field agent had looked grey when he’d marched himself into the office this morning, but he was exhausted. The man had never fully recovered from his battle with the pneumonic plague almost ten years ago.

He would probably recover faster if he just stayed at home and relaxed, but as much as the man bitched and whined, the concept of truly relaxing was foreign to him, particularly when there was work to be done. Not that there was work to be done now though. Gibbs had long since suspected that he was just too good at playing the class clown, so he constantly felt the need to prove himself. The man was his own worst enemy.

Then, it happened, and Gibbs pounced. Tony’s head had barely finished nodding against his chest, when Gibbs strode in, startling him awake when he said, “Go home, Tony.”

“Just catching up on some filing,” DiNozzo responded croakily.

Gibbs levelled him with a look, just short of a glare, “From the case we finished a week ago? Or the one before that?”

Tony frustratingly looked guilty, making Gibbs wonder what he’d missed. He already knew the man was well and truly on top of the paperwork. “McGee and Ziva sent me their reports from your last case for review, I haven’t had the chance to – ”

“You didn’t work the last case, DiNozzo,” Gibbs interrupted, not that he had to remind him. Tony had been as sick as a dog, if Gibbs’ memory was correct…and it was. “McGee was the acting senior field agent whilst you were on sick leave, he should be sending his report directly to me, and he should be the one vetting Ziva’s report.” 

Tony grimaced, “You don’t want that, boss.”

“DiNozzo, send me their damned reports,” Gibbs growled, before he could control himself, “If you haven’t been able to get them to proof read and improve on their reports in eight years – !”

It was probably a good thing that his phone interrupted what he was going to say, his relationship with Tony had been strained ever since…

“What?!” Gibbs barked into his cell.

“Catchya at a bad time?” Joe White’s voice asked.

Gibbs’s gut dropped; Joe wouldn’t be calling if he had good news. “What happened?”

“There’s been…complications. I need to call in that favour we talked about, think you can spare some time to visit a tropical paradise?” Joe responded.

Gibbs rolled his eyes, his friend hated technologies as much as he did, so wouldn’t tell him what was going on over the phone. “I’ll be on the next flight out.”

Gibbs hung up and pointed at Tony, “Book me the next flight to O’ahu, Hawaii.”

“Hawaii?” Tony asked, and Gibbs imagined his eyes brightened up, but he was already half-way up the stairs to talk to the Director. “Need company?” 

Gibbs ignored the questions as he walked into Leon’s office. The secretary briefly looked up as he barged in, but either there was no one in with the Director, or that it wasn’t worth getting up to protest him going in. Turned out it was the former.

Leon looked up as he strode in, “Afternoon, Jethro.”

“Joe White just called,” Gibbs answered, knowing that would get Leon’s full and undivided attention.

As expected, Leon stood up and leant on his desk, “What’s the news?”

“He needs back up, he wouldn’t say more over an unsecured line,” Gibbs hedged.

“Take whatever and whoever you need, I don’t care if you have to stay in the penthouse suite at the Hilton, Gibbs, I want answers.”

Gibbs nodded in response, “We’ll get ‘em.”

“Any word on Commander McGarrett?” Vance asked.

“Only what you saw on the news, he was shot in a shoot out at a wealthy Japanese businessman’s house. News outlets are reporting it as revenge for the man killing his grandfather on the Arizona during the Pearl Harbor attacks,” Gibbs responded.

“SecNav is very interested in this, Gibbs,” Leon replied, “We need Governor Pat Jameson’s involvement in this nailed down.”

“You’ll get it,” Gibbs responded, then walked out.

******************************************

Gibbs ran back down the stairs and grabbed his gear from his desk. “DiNozzo?”

“No vacancies on any commercial flights until Friday because of the backlog with the smoke from the bushfires. So I got us seats on a C17 that departs in an hour,” Tony responded.

Gibbs frowned as he closed his desk drawer, “Us?”

“Yeah boss,” Tony answered, walking with him to the elevator, “Us. I’m not letting you go without backup, not after… every other time – ”

“I don’t need backup, DiNozzo,” Gibbs interrupted, getting into the elevator.

“Tell that to your every hole in your vest, and every time they actually hit you.”

“This isn’t a debate, DiNozzo!” Gibbs snapped.

“Then stop arguing!” Tony snapped back, “I’m your _Senior Field Agent!_ If you don’t trust me enough to do this, then I may as well resign right here and now! And before you make a snap judgement, just know that if you say ‘fine’, I _will_ resign and then I’ll be gone! FBI, CIA, I have my pick of who wants to hire me!”

Tony stopped to cough for a moment, then continued, “I’m not letting you go out without backup. Full stop, end of story. Besides, McGee’s off playing computer nerd and Ziva’s doing…whatever the hell she’s doing, I’d be bored shitless within minutes. And uh… I mean, you said _Hawaii_ , right? I mean, come on, boss. Hawaii.”

Gibbs gave Tony a lopsided grin, “I hear their fishing this time of the year is pretty good.”

“Fishing?!” Tony exclaimed, “Let me tell you about everything Hawaii has to offer at this time of the year, and fishing… well yes, I’m sure there’re some good fishing spots, but I think you’d be more interested in …..”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> And yay for NCIS! I'll get to the particulars of their involvement in a later chapter.
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	35. Chapter 35

_Steve always thought that when the time came, he’d be calm, serene even. But he was wrong. Panic gripped his heart and he could barely breathe. A cold sweat burst over him and he felt his body tremoring as goosebumps broke out over his skin. This couldn’t be happening, he was innocent! He wouldn’t go quietly though._

_He was going to be executed, despite his best efforts and those of Joe, Chin and surprisingly Danny, the fiery blond detective. It made his heart break, it felt like they’d been so close to getting something solid._

_He heard the guards approaching his cell, their keys jangling as they walked. Steve got up and backed up against the far wall, keeping his eyes glued to the door. He wasn’t going to make this easy for the guards, not after what they’d put him through. He would go kicking and screaming, and he was going to try to take out as many of them as possible._

_He finally heard keys in the lock of the door and it opened to reveal six guards and the priest. One of the guards flung a set of chains at him, but Steve didn’t move. He looked at the chains in disdain, then raised his head back to the guards. A hysterical giggle gurgled beneath the surface, but Steve wasn’t about to let it break free. He allowed himself a small smirk though, the guards’ reaction was hilarious. The look on their faces was a mix between stunned and pissed, but he detected an element of fear too._

_“Put the damn chains on!” the guard who’d thrown them yelled at him. He was also the guard that’d broken his arm._

_So many responses filtered through Steve’s head;_ “Fuck you!”, “Make me!”, “You put them on!”. _But he didn’t want to get distracted by a conversation, so instead stayed silent and levelled a steely gaze on him._

_“He said put the chains on, you stupid moron!” another guard piped up. Steve didn’t know him, he was new. He was a young guy, cocky. Probably trying to impress the other guards. Usually they didn’t let the new guys in on these details, and for good reason. They needed seasoned guards, so why was this guy here? But he pushed the thought out of his head, again with the distraction._

_“Steve, just do it. Don’t make this any harder than it needs to be,” the priest pleaded with him. It was the same priest who’d turned a blind eye to his suffering. The man had visited Steve once a week in the beginning, but Steve had asked him not to come back after the third week. He’d known about what was happening but hadn’t done anything about it._

_Steve still said nothing, focussing his energy on the fight ahead. The standoff came to a head when the first guard unlocked the inner door and cautiously approached him. The guy picked up the chains and edged closer._

_When he was close enough, Steve finally moved. He threw his fist forward, contacting the man’s face and breaking his nose. When the guard doubled over in pain, Steve kneed him heavily in the chest, then grabbed his face and threw his head against the wall. It made a solid cracking sound, then the man fell to the ground like a sack of potatoes._

_One down, five and a half to go…_

“Steve, wake up.” Steve heard the voice, but he wasn’t sure who had spoken. It didn’t matter though.

_Three of the guards withdrew their batons and advanced on his position at the same time. He watched them carefully, waiting for the first to break their line. He didn’t have long to wait. The guard who took the lead darted forward with his baton raised, but he wasn’t quick enough for Steve. Steve grabbed the baton as it came down and pulled the man closer. But as he did, one of the other guards leapt forward. Steve kicked the second guard as he pushed the first._

_Then he raised the baton, aiming to put bring it down on the first guards collarbone. But of course the man moved and it came down on his head. Steve winced, but didn’t have time to think about it as he felt an intense pain in his lower back. He roared when he realised it was a stun gun, and whipped around, but there was no one to strike._

“Steve!”

_He fell to the ground, his limbs flailing. Then blessedly, the pain stopped and his muscles recovered. One of the guards ran forward, but Steve wasn’t finished yet. He swept the baton across the man’s legs, making him fall to the ground too. Then he hit him in the face, knocking his unconscious. At the same time, he grabbed the man’s stun gun, aimed and shot. He felt a degree of satisfaction when the priest went down. He should have been able to trust the man._

_Then there was another intense flair of pain and he saw the guard he’d kicked earlier holding the stun gun. This time, the guard didn’t stop sending shockwaves of pain through his body until he was well and truly subdued._

***********************

Clyde pressed an ice-pack to his eye and watched his quandary from through the plastic sheeting. The good news at least, was that the man was waking up. But that was also the bad news. 

“Oooh, ow,” Joe White laughed as he approached to stand next to him, “That looks like it hurt.”

Clyde cleared his throat and shook his head, “I’ve had worse. Lindsey wants to restrain him until the fog of the sedatives wear off.”

Joe grimaced, “Probably not a bad idea, but you might regret it.”

Clyde nodded, “See how we go. But uh, it brings me to my next point, which is that people are going to start asking questions if I’m away from the office for too long. I told my secretary, Trista, that I had a family emergency, which buys us some time, but still…”

“And Lindsey?” Joe asked.

“She works a casual job, so she can take off all the time she needs. But she still needs money coming in and whilst she can handle herself in a fight, she’s no match for Steve,” Clyde responded.

“I’ll start looking for a plan B,” Joe told him, then considered that one of the people in his small circle of trust had just been made housebound with a sick kid for the next three or so weeks… “I think I have an idea of who to ask.”

Clyde just chuckled, he knew Joe White well enough that whoever had just been stabbed with the job, wouldn’t be asked so much as told. 

************************

Kono yawned widely and picked up the last stack of paperwork. It was getting late and the three coffees from earlier in the day had well and truly worn off. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the paperwork was in any way, shape or form, exciting. On the bright side, she was nearly finished. And then she would thank Chin for giving her _‘the opportunity to help out, thanks brah, I really feel like I’ve contributed something.’_

She shook her head in an effort to clear it and started shuffling through the papers. It didn’t take too long, and before she’d finished going through the stack, she’d dialled her cousins number. 

_“Howz’it, cuz?”_

“I finished that filing you wanted me to do,” Kono responded.

_“Find anything?”_

Kono shook her head, “I found out how much John paid in tax for the last 15 years, and that he was paying too much for his electricity, but had a great deal on his gas. He always paid his bills on time, in cash. He had two bank accounts, but no credit cards. Oh, actually, he had two mobile phones – or he gave one to someone. A plan and a prepaid.”

 _“Got the numbers?”_

“Yeah, I’ll run them through the databases when I go in tomorrow,” Kono responded, “Speaking of, Cap’s going to want answers when I go in, what should I tell him?”

_“Good work, cuz. Just tell him that you’re working on getting our trust and we’ve been giving you shitty little jobs for the moment.”_

Kono snorted, “That’s not too far from the truth, I think I’ll manage.”

_“Sorry, Kono, but we really did need someone to go through those files. Tell you what, after you finish up tomorrow, come meet me at the shop, I’ll take you to where the good stuff is going on.”_

“You’re on, brah,” Kono responded, before hanging up. She sighed and put the paperwork away, she had hoped that she’d be able to find something here. At least she’d been able to prove to her cousin that she was trying to help, which was a start.

*************************

**01 May 2012**

_The guards had called for reinforcements once he was in shackles. He didn’t know how many remained from the original team or how many more had replaced them. He only knew that he was outnumbered. Didn’t stop him from trying to break free though. He still lashed out whenever anyone got close, he just couldn’t do as much damage this way._

_The guards ended up half-carrying, half-dragging him, kicking and screaming, down the corridor. Then the next thing he knew, he was in the execution room, and he redoubled his efforts. He fought hard, but there was just too many guards holding him down. He screamed and thrust his hips, kicking his legs and flailing his arms. But nothing worked. He even tried biting at the guards, but they put a strap over his forehead and buckled it to the table._

_The hands were gradually replaced with straps and he realised that this was a losing battle. He felt the tired grit in his eyes as they started to water, and he didn’t even try to stop them as they sprung a leak and dribbled salty tears down his face._

_Then suddenly, he realised that the hands were gone. He stopped flailing his limbs, swallowing convulsively as he breathlessly looked around. He found that not only was he restrained to the table, but there was a needle in his right arm. They were ready to go._

_He couldn’t stop the sob bursting free. His eyes were freely leaking now and he tried to come to grips that it was over. But he’d been praying to a god he didn’t believe in anymore, praying for a hail Mary. At this rate, the best he could hope for was a posthumous exoneration._

_His heart thudded heavily in his chest and he panted hard, still looking for a way to get out of here. He swallowed down bitter bile._

_He felt the table move up and then tilt forwards a bit. That’s when he saw the spectators through the viewing window. A few reporters, some people he didn’t know, but his attention was drawn to the left and back, where Danny, Chin and Joe were sitting. All three men looked tired, but were smartly dressed; Danny in his suit and tie, Chin in slacks and a shirt, and Joe in his Navy blues._

_Steve choked on another sob. He’d let them down. He looked around the rest of the people, but his sister wasn’t there. He knew she wouldn’t turn up, but had felt compelled to write her name down as a visitor._

_“Steven J McGarrett, you have been sentenced to death by lethal injection. Do you have any last words?” the executioner asked._

_“I’m innocent, I’m innocent, please don’t do this,” Steve whispered as more tears cascaded down his face, “I didn’t kill my father, I didn’t do this.”_

_But the executioner wasn’t listening to him. His eyes were on the clock on the wall. Steve couldn’t watch him, he knew that the guy only needed to press a button and the machine would do the rest. Lethal injections were all automated nowadays, the process fine-tuned so the right amount of every drug went into his system at a predetermined time._

“I love you, son. I didn’t say it enough.” _he thought of his father’s final words to him and tried to take peace in them. But it still hurt too much._

_“Dad,” Steve sobbed. Then he renewed his efforts, flailing his arms and rocking side to side, until amazingly, the table flipped._

He fell to the ground hard, but he was still attached to the bed. He clumsily tried to unfasten the restraints as he blinked his eyes open. The bindings weren’t as steadfast as he was led to believe, falling away quickly. But he had no time to waste, the guards would be on top of him in no time at all. He had to escape. 

“Steve!” 

Steve ignored the call as he shakily got to his feet and bolted for the door. Or at least, he tried to. He couldn’t have gone for then a couple of steps before his chest erupted in pain and he fell to the ground with a shout. 

“Goddammit, Steve! Stop!” the voice called again, somehow sounding concerned. But that didn’t make any sense. The executioner was supposed to be impartial.

“Get away from me,” Steve gasped in pain, batting away the man’s hands when he tried to touch him.

“Steve, look at me! Okay? _Look_ at me! Do you recognise me? Huh? And the answer better bloody well be yes! I didn’t save your ass in Iraq for you to pull this shit on me here! Are you listening to me, boy?”

Steve frowned at the executioner, wondering why he sounded like someone he knew. Someone from another time. But he couldn’t think about it any longer, as a wave of pain had the blackness crashing back down on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had different plans for this chapter originally, but I've decided to change things up a bit, it was the only way I could make it make sense. I'll explain later, once I've finally finished this fic.
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	36. Chapter 36

“So, have you been to Hawaii before, Tony?” Captain Ben Rogers, AKA Bou, asked him.

“Yeah, once,” Tony responded. He was sitting in the cockpit, chatting with the pilots. The view from up there was great, even if the only thing they could see at the moment was the clear blue sky, with a handful of clouds below. “Let’s just say that I hope this time will be better,” he added as he thought about the last time he’d been to the islands.

“I love Hawaii,” Lieutenant Sarah Phillips, AKA Cookie, remarked, turning around to look at him.

“Nah, I’m a Chicago boy,” Bou replied, “Gimme tall buildings and oh my god, that pizza!”

Cookie snorted, “Chicago’s a land-locked state, buddy.”

“Not completely, Chicago’s on one of the Great Lakes. But yeah, I’ll take it any day of the week over this place,” Bou responded.

“There’s something wrong with you,” Cookie answered, “Gimme beaches over buildings every single time.”

“Yeah, I’m with Cookie on this,” Tony added. 

“Well, take it or leave it, here it comes,” Bou told him, pointing at the horizon.

Tony squinted, finally making out the small landmass that slowly got bigger and bigger. “Cool.”

“You’re welcome to stay up here for the landing, Tony,” Bou told him.

Tony grinned, “Thanks.”

“Here they say ‘mahalo’,” Cookie said with a grin, rolling her eyes when Bou muttered something indecipherable under his breath.

Tony stared out the cockpit window as they flew over the city he’d once been forgotten about in. Everything looked so different from the last time he’d seen it, and it didn’t have anything to do with seeing the city from a different altitude. The view was truly breathtaking, and Tony relished it whilst he had the chance, he had a feeling that his time here would be anything but relaxing.

The landing was as soft as Tony expected from the cockpit, and before long, it was time to disembark. Tony bid farewell to his new friends and walked through the main cabin to follow his fellow passengers get off the aircraft. 

He caught up with Gibbs, who merely glanced at him, then commented, “Enjoy the flight?”

Tony ignored the undertone, not willing to start the trip on a sour note, “It’s a lot smoother than most of the other aircraft we’ve been on.”

Apparently Gibbs found that amusing, probably thinking of many of the other flights they’d been on that had been anything but smooth. But before Tony could comment on it, he realised they had company.

“Leroy Jethro Gibbs,” a bald headed-man who’s outfit screamed some kind of special forces role, commented as he strode forward to meet them, his hand outstretched to shake Gibbs’s, “You got old, gunny.”

Gibbs snorted as he shook the man’s hand, “ _I_ got old, you seen a mirror lately? And I heard you commissioned?!”

The man grinned, then ducked his head, “Figured I could do more as an officer, move the service in the right direction.”

“I’m not calling you ‘Sir’,” Gibbs said with a small laugh, then seemed to remember Tony was with him, “Joe, this is my senior field agent, Special Agent Tony DiNozzo. Tony, this is Commander Joe White.”

“We were recruits together,” Joe supplied as he shook Tony’s hand, then gestured to the black sedan behind him, “Let’s get going, got a lot to catch you up on. Gibbs, you wanna check into a hotel first?”

Gibbs just answered with a look as he got into the passenger side of the car. As they began driving, Tony checked his phone and picked up a few new emails. “Hey boss, the base has given us a service car, we can pick it up anytime today,” he remarked.

“May as well do it now,” Joe answered, “Road movements section is just down here anyway.”

“Mahalo, Joe,” Tony replied, hoping he got the pronunciation correct.

Joe grinned in amusement, “So what’s your background, Tony? You’re not military.”

“No, Sir, I worked my way through the ranks to detective at various police departments, then Gibbs recruited me just over 12 years ago,” Tony replied.

“Tony went to the Remington Military Academy in his teens,” Gibbs added.

“But you decided not to join up?” Joe asked as the car came to a stop.

Tony shrugged, “Always wanted to be a cop. I’ll get the car and follow you, leave you two to catch up.” He figured they’d be able to catch up more freely without the extra person in the car anyway.

The process to getting the car was easier than expected, and before he knew it, he was following Joe’s car through the Honolulu streets. The drive was a pleasant one, the weather was nice, and the car connected to his Bluetooth, playing his ‘driving’ playlist.

The house they finally stopped at was on the beach front, but far enough away from the mayhem of Waikiki that they would get unexpected visitors. As they walked into the house, they met a native Hawaiian man that Joe introduced as Chin Kelly. But soon after making the introductions, Joe had to excuse himself when his phone rang. When he came back to the conversation afterwards, he looked concerned.

“Sorry Gibbs, Tony, I’ve gotta go. Chin, can you bring them up to speed?” Joe asked.

Gibbs frowned, “I’d prefer you did it, Joe, can it wait?”

“I told you Steve was shot at Mokoto’s place, right? He’s coming around again after the surgery, but he keeps waking disorientated. He’s just injured himself again, torn some stitches, pulled out some tubes – ” Joe started.

“And you said the guy who patched him up was an ex-SEAL buddy,” Gibbs interrupted, “He can handle it, right? I want to get started on this, and the best way to do that is if we have all the information.”

Joe clearly switched gears, going from concerned friend to military commander mode. He nodded, “Yeah, come through here, it’ll be easier to brief you.”

Tony frowned at Gibbs, but the man ignored the look, then followed the guy. As he entered the room, he noticed the vast amount of information plastered on the walls and on the whiteboards. His first thought was that with this amount of information, this should be an open and shut case, unless…

Tony cleared his throat, “I hate to play catch up, but can someone give me a quick five on what we’re investigating here?”

“Just over 18 months ago, Detective John McGarrett was murdered in his home. Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett was convicted of killing him, and sentenced to death by lethal injection,” Chin answered, “A month ago, he escaped from prison and he’s still a fugitive. The catch is that Steve didn’t kill his father, he was set up.”

Tony glanced at the faces of the men in the room, and noted the serious expressions he got in response. “Okay, so if he didn’t, who did?” Tony asked, “And why?”

“That’s why we’re here,” Joe responded, “The short answer is that Victor Hesse killed John McGarrett. The why isn’t as straight forward as we were led to believe.”

“Okay, and who’s Victor Hesse?” Tony asked.

“One of the Irish Terrorists that Steve had been hunting for the past 5 years,” Joe replied.

“I can catch Tony up later, Joe. What’s the latest?” Gibbs asked.

“Okay, what we know is this. Mokoto told us that he’d asked John to investigate corruption in the police department, and that he had proof that the Governor was in league with Wo Fat and the Yakuza. But he didn’t say what the evidence was. I imagine the clues are in his toolbox,” Joe responded as he pointed to the red toolbox in the middle of the desk, “He told Steve about it before he died.”

Gibbs turned to Tony, “The Yakuza are the local Japanese mafia,” then he turned back to Joe, “But I don’t know who Wo Fat is?”

“Well, the answer to that is more complicated than you’d think,” Joe responded, as he pulled open a laptop.

Gibbs shrugged, “Uncomplicate it.”

Joe glanced at Gibbs for a moment, before beginning a Skype call on the laptop and turning it around to face the team. After a few rings, the call was answered by a woman with red hair, “I was beginning to think you stood me up, Joe.”

“Had to make a quick stop,” Joe responded, before making introductions, “This is Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and Special Agent Tony DiNozzo, NCIS, and I’m sure you remember Detective Chin Ho Kelly.”

“How could I ever forget that face,” the woman answered.

“Mahalo for the kind words,” Chin replied, nodding his head at her, “But I’m a former Detective.”

“You won’t be once we’re done,” Joe told him, then continued with the introductions, “Gents, this is Shelbourne. But you probably know her better as Doris McGarrett.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> I've also had a couple of people ask if I intend on revealing the full extent of what happened to Steve whilst he was in prison, the short answer is that I was only going to imply what happened. However, happy to work it into one of the chapters if that's what you want :)


	37. Chapter 37

“Doris McGarrett?” Gibbs deadpanned, staring at Joe with a ‘please-explain’ glare, “Doris McGarrett died in 1992.”

“No, the CIA faked her death in 1992,” Joe corrected him.

“Why?” Tony asked.

_“You’re asking the wrong question,”_ the voice from the laptop interrupted their conversation, then she continued, _“The question is why was I targeted in 1992.”_

Tony shrugged, “Okay, I’ll bite. Why?”

_“I wasn’t the one targeted, John was. In ‘92, John was the head of the HPD’s organised crime unit and was investigating the expansion of the Yakuza here in Hawaii. He was corresponding with someone in Japan,”_ she responded, then held up the postcard with stick figures on it, _“That person gave him the name, ‘Hiro Noshimuri’.”_

“In 1992, it wasn’t common knowledge that Hiro was the boss of the Yakuza,” Chin supplied, sighing as he figured out what hadn’t yet been said, “Even now, it can’t be proven, which is why he hasn’t been arrested. But in 1992…”

“So, the Yakuza didn’t like how many questions McGarrett was asking, and put a bomb under his car to silence him,” Tony said, “Only, they didn’t bet on you driving it.”

Doris was nodding on the screen, _“Exactly.”_

“And before John’s death, just over 18 months ago, he’d reopened your case,” Chin added, “So are you suggesting that the Yakuza targeted him again?”

_“If he found something that could point a finger at them, then yes, it’s possible. I think the answer is more complicated than that though. Hiro Noshimuri reports to Wo Fat, and let’s just say that he has a personal vendetta against me that you don’t need to know about,”_ Doris responded.

“You should let us decide what’s relevant,” Gibbs told her.

_“Your steely gaze doesn’t intimidate me, Special Agent Gibbs,”_ Doris responded, _“I think that between Wo Fat’s personal vendetta and whatever John was investigating, they seized the opportunity to make something happen. Wo Fat has kept a low profile since Steve’s escape, but I’ve got a lead and I’m currently awaiting Wo Fat to make an appearance. Be sure that when he does, he won’t be escaping.”_

Tony grimaced, “I hope you’re not suggesting what I think you mean.”

_“I’m not **suggesting** anything, Special Agent DiNozzo,”_ Doris responded, _“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go._

“Charming,” Tony remarked, as the Skype call ended.

“Is she going to be a problem?” Gibbs asked Joe.

Joe levelled a look at Gibbs, “I have it under control.”

Gibbs seemed to search his expression for something, before finally finding it and giving a nod. “Okay, what else do we have?” he asked.

“I can tell you more about what we don’t have,” Chin answered, “Aside from what’s in this toolbox, which needs to be sorted out, there are two things we haven’t been able to nail down, the Governor’s involvement and Kaleo’s involvement.”

“Kaleo is the Captain of the HPD?” Gibbs clarified.

Chin nodded, “The one and the same. What concerns me with him is how fast he got promoted to Captain, nobody has ever been promoted that fast, ever. But I can see that he’s recently come into some money, he’s bought a new car, among other things, but there’s no evidence of an increase in his cash flow.”

“And when you say recently, you mean in the last 18 months?” Tony asked, then looked back at Gibbs, “I’ve got a contact in the banking sector…”

“Do it,” Gibbs commanded, then he turned back to Joe, “What about the Governor’s involvement in all this? Word’s got back to SecNav and the Pentagon, and they want to know the extent of her involvement.”

“Steve’s lawyer, Odell Martin, has evidence that she was the one who made the call that the case be dealt with under a civilian authority, instead of the military justice system,” Joe answered.

“You think someone’s pulling her strings?” Tony asked.

“I think it’s more tit for tat, but we don’t know what she’s getting from it,” Joe responded.

“Finances?” Gibbs asked.

“That we can find? Clean,” Joe answered.

Gibbs glanced at Tony, who nodded, “I’ll look into it.”

Before the discussion could continue, they heard a car pull up outside. Gibbs glanced at Joe, his hand covering his weapon, “Expecting someone?”

“No,” Joe answered, also going for his weapon.

“Wait,” Chin interrupted them, “That’s Kono, I told her where to find us. We can trust her.”

“Is this the same Kono you said was a rat?” Gibbs asked.

“She’s ohana. If I say you can trust her, then you can,” Chin responded, “And she told me that Kaleo was trying to use her, instead of hiding it.”

The men lowered and holstered their weapons as Kono finally made an appearance. “Sweet digs, cousin,” Kono commented as she walked in, then as she saw the evidence plastered on the walls, her eyes went round and she stared, “Whoa.”

“Kono, these are Special Agents Gibbs and DiNozzo, NCIS,” Chin introduced them.

“NCIS? Same agency that dropped the ball with McGarrett?” Kono asked.

“Different office,” Tony remarked.

“I bet,” Kono said offhandedly, then turned back to Chin, “That prepaid phone of John McGarrett’s is still in use, it only gets turned on once every few days. And here’s a list of the numbers it’s called in the last 18 months.”

Chin frowned as he looked at the paper that Kono handed him, then looked back at Kono, “It only calls one number? Who does it belong to?”

“Another prepaid phone,” Kono answered, as Chin handed the paper to Joe.

“It’s a good bet that Victor Hesse has the phone,” Chin told Joe, “Maybe he’s calling Wo Fat?”

Kono frowned, “Who’s Wo Fat?”

“I’ll catch you up later,” Chin responded.

“I’ll pass this to Shelbourne,” Joe said, then looked at the NCIS agents, “Do you two have any more questions? I’ve gotta get Steve sorted.”

“We’ll be in touch,” Gibbs responded, “Give our best to the Commander.”

Joe nodded and departed. As he left, Gibbs stared down Kono for a moment, before finally asking, “I have one question for you, Kono. You’re cousin thinks we can trust you, but I don’t know him and I don’t know you. So why should I trust you?”

“You don’t have to trust me, Agent Gibbs,” Kono replied, “You only have to trust that I will do the job and I will do it properly. I want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do, so I will do what’s required.”

Gibbs continued staring at Kono, assessing her answer. Then Kono gave a small smile, “Besides Cailtyn Todd trusted me,” Kono responded.

“You knew Kate?” Tony asked, his expression softening a bit, whilst Gibbs’s turned to one of guilt.

Kono nodded, “We met at Virginia Beach in ’98. She inspired me enough that I decided if surfing didn’t work out for me, I’d get into law enforcement. We kept in touch over the years, but you know how that turned out...”

“What have you reported back to the Captain so far?” Tony asked.

“Nothing,” Kono answered, “But he’ll only believe that you’re keeping me on the outer for so long without getting suspicious.”

“Tell him about the storage unit,” Gibbs told her, “I want to see what he does with that information.”

Kono glanced at Chin, awaiting his small nod, before agreeing, “My shift starts in three hours, I’ll tell him when I go in.”

“Good. Let’s get to work,” Gibbs responded, nodding at Tony to open the toolbox.

***********************

Joe frowned at the additional vehicles around the warehouse that Steve was still in, he hadn’t been expecting any guests. The only thing stopping him for drawing his weapon as he approached, was that he recognised one of the vehicles as Wade’s. He walked into the warehouse and was unsurprisingly met by Wade and Clyde.

“We’re ready to roll,” Wade told him.

Joe nodded, then looked at Clyde, “Steve’s ready for transport?”

“I’ve removed non-essential wires, tubes and equipment, he’s in the back of the van, awaiting your signal,” Clyde responded, then added, “And he’s been sedated again.”

“Thanks, buddy,” Joe responded, then turned back to Wade, “You didn’t need to come, you know?”

“And miss all of this? What would be the fun in that?” Wade asked with a grin, “Clay’s is in the first car with you, I’ll be in the van with Clyde, and Jacks will be bringing up the rear if anything goes south.”

Joe glanced at the men, “You got all of team nine to help out with the transport?”

Wade shook his head, “This isn’t all of team nine, you know that. And Steve’s one of us, we’ve gotta give him the chance to clear his name. We’ve got a roster for someone to keep an eye on him when you get to the residence too.”

“The residence?” Joe asked.

“Well, you never did say where you’re planning on taking Steve,” Wade responded.

Joe grinned as he thought about the fiery blonde detective, “You’ll like this guy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's hoping this chapter made sense and didn't become too complicated!
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> Up next... Danny looks after Steve...


	38. Chapter 38

Danny idly scratched his forearm as he ran a bath with oatmeal, for Grace. In the meantime, Grace was standing beside him, impatiently bouncing up and down as they waited for the tub to fill up.

“Are you sure this will work, Danno?” she asked.

“Has your Danno ever been wrong about something like this before, Monkey? Huh?” Danny responded.

Grace gave him the most pitiful expression he’d ever seen on her face, “It’s really itchy.”

“I know, Monkey,” Danny replied, absently stopping her as she tried to scratch at her stomach, “Let me tell you about when I had the chickenpox.”

“You had the chickenpox?”

“Your grandmother took me to a pox party when I was a kid – you know what a pox party is, right?” Danny asked, then continued when Grace nodded, “My skin was so itchy, I thought I was going to die because of it. I couldn’t remember a time that it didn’t itch like crazy. Until of course, Clara Williams made me an oatmeal bath, and there was copious amounts of calamine lotion too, just not at the same time.”

Grace grinned at him, then turned her attention back to the bathtub, “Is it ready yet?”

Danny looked at the water level, and nodded, “Yeah, that’ll do. Go on, get in there.”

But Grace just turned back to stare at him, “Not while you’re still here, Danno.”

Danny snorted and stood up, but before he could say anything, his doorbell rang. “Okay, I’m gonna see who’s here, turn off the water, I don’t need this place flooding.”

“Thanks, Danno,” Grace responded, as Danny left the room.

Danny wiped his hands on the handtowel over his shoulder as he went to the front door. He was surprised to see Meka standing on the other side, “Hey buddy, what’s going on? You wanna come in?”

“Nah man, I haven’t had the chickenpox,” Meka responded, then looked around the street suspiciously, “Actually, maybe I’ll come in for a bit.”

Danny stepped out of the way to let Meka in, “You found something?”

“You were right about Kaleo. I talked to Captain Keolaha, he was blackmailed into leaving. He wouldn’t say what they had on him, only that he was told to step down, or else. He was also told to make sure Kaleo would be his successor. Keolaha argued that it he hadn’t made it a secret that his successor was meant to be Vince Fryer, and that Kaleo hadn’t been a Lieutenant for long enough. But he was told that wasn’t their problem,” Meka explained.

“Okay, who is ‘they’?” Danny asked.

Meka shook his head, “He wouldn’t say. Whoever ‘they’ are, they have something on him and he’s afraid of them.”

Danny sighed and wiped a hand over his face, “Thanks, man.”

“Don’t mention it,” Meka responded, then waved, “I’m gonna take off before I catch the chickenpox.”

**********************************

Danny was just starting to drift off in front of the TV, when he heard another knock on the door. He sighed, double checking that it hadn’t woken Grace up from where she was sacked out on the couch, before getting up to see who was there.

He opened the door, about to give Meka grief about coming back, but instead, he saw Commander Joe White standing there.

“Gonna let me in?” Joe asked, when he apparently didn’t react fast enough.

“Yeah, sorry,” Danny responded, stepping back to let him in, “You know that my daughter and I are trying to isolate ourselves because she has a contagious disease, right? Chickenpox, you may have heard of it?”

“I’ve had the vaccinations,” Joe responded, with a shrug, “I’m not concerned. In fact, I’m here to increase this party by one.”

“What’re you talking about?” Danny asked with a frown.

“Are you expecting any visitors here anytime soon?” Joe asked, “Ex-wives, girlfriends, boyfriends?”

Danny frowned and made an aborted hand gesture, “I have two words for you; Contagious. Disease.”

But before Joe could ask another question, their attention was drawn to the sound of someone opening the back door of the house. Danny instantly went on high alert, fearing for his daughter’s safety, but before he could make a move to where he’d stored a weapon, Joe stopped him. “They’re with me.”

“They?” Danny asked, as he grabbed his sidearm from the hallway table anyway and stalked to where he’d heard the noise from.

As he walked into the back area, he saw four guys entering the house, two of whom were carrying a stretcher, with a fifth guy on it. Of the five men, he only recognised one. He spun back to Joe, “What the hell is the matter with you? Bringing him in here? He’s a fugitive and I’m still a cop!”

“Like you said, Danny, your kid has a contagious disease, nobody’s going to be coming around here for a couple of weeks at least. And Steve needs that time to recover,” Joe answered.

“I should report this,” Danny told him, but his heart wasn’t in it, he knew that wasn’t an option.

“And what do you think will happen to him if they arrest him again? He’ll be lucky to make it back to prison in one piece, and you know as well as I do that his execution will be brought forward,” Joe responded.

“We got a problem here, Joe?” one of the sturdier, older looking guys asked.

Joe turned back to Danny, “Do we?”

Danny sighed and put down his weapon, “He’s safe here. Who’re you guys?”

“Couple of SEALs who know Steve,” Joe replied, apparently unwilling to give him names, which only meant they were still active in the service.

“Us team guys gotta stick together,” one of the younger dudes added.

“Yeah, like how you stuck with Steve after he was convicted,” Danny responded, then glanced at Joe as he added, “Or how you supported him after Freddie Hart died.”

“Steve needed to blow off some steam, he wanted revenge after Hart died,” Joe explained, “I thought I was giving him the means to do that. But I regret that now.”

“I bet you do,” Danny answered, then turned to the man he guessed was the medical expert, “What do I need to know about this medical paraphernalia?”

*******************************************************

_“No Jethro, I’ve told you before that this is an inexact science, but where the time of death is concerned, the medical examiner should not have erred so far as he did. With that said, I can see where his estimate has come from, but given what he was reporting in court, he should have recognised his error and rectified it,”_ Ducky was telling him, _“I would suggest that his judgement was… off.”_

“And that’s your professional opinion?” Gibbs clarified.

_“You always get my professional opinion, Jethro, you know that.”_

“Thanks, Duck,” Gibbs replied, then hung up. He glanced over at Tony to get an update of where they were at, but frowned when he saw his senior field agent lounging on his chair, apparently wasting time, chit-chatting with a friend on his phone.

“DiNozzo!” Gibbs barked, feeling a bit better about the situation when Tony abruptly sat in an upright position and stared at him, “Report!”

Tony opened his mouth to say something, but stopped and had the gall to hold up a finger to signal he needed a minute. Then he laughed at something the person on the phone said, then answered, “No Pete, as in the number four. Yeah, I know I could see his face now. Hey man, I gotta go, thanks for doing that, you won’t regret it.”

Gibbs waited for Tony to hang up, before saying, “Will I?”

Tony frowned at Gibbs for a moment, but seemed to shake it off, “Pete’s my contact in the banking sector, Gibbs, and he found something. Kaleo has an account in the Cayman Islands.”

Gibbs felt slightly bad about assuming the worst about his SFA, breaking even one of his own rules doing so, particularly when he’d turned something up. But the feeling didn’t last long, Tony would get over it. 

“Pete’s working on sending the records to me now, but he’s given me the highlights. Kaleo opened the account mid-2009 and started getting a steady stream of payments; $2 grand on the first of every month, which I figure was a retainer. It’s the payments in between that I wondered about, so I cross referenced a few to cases he was working at the time,” Tony turned on the projector they’d brought with them to show his computer screen on the only blank wall, “Look familiar?”

Gibbs scanned the HPD report, stopping at the surname, “Chin, how many Mokotos on the island?”

“There’s a handful, but I remember this case,” Chin answered, “Kideki’s daughter was assaulted, we found the guys responsible and charged them. But just before the trial, the only evidence we had against the two Yakuza henchmen, went missing and we had to drop the charges.”

“16 January 2010?” Tony asked.

“That’s the date the evidence disappeared,” Chin responded.

“It’s also the date that Kaleo was paid $5k,” Tony responded.

“Then a couple of weeks later, Kideki hired John to investigate the police department?” Gibbs clarified.

“It gets even better – or worse, depending on how you view it,” Tony told him, then opened the email that pinged his inbox, “Here it is. Okay, check this out; there were two transfers of funds into the account in September 2010, at $5K a pop. One was on the 9th, the other on the 17th.”

Gibbs squinted at the screen as the bank statement came up, not that he needed the evidence, “The day before John’s death, and a week after it.”

Tony nodded and scrolled to another statement, “Well, he was probably paid to get rid of or change evidence, and secure the guilty charge. He got an additional $10,000 just after Steve was found guilty.”

“Danny said the last Captain was blackmailed out of the job and told to make Kaleo his successor too. So he got a nice promotion in addition to the $20k,” Chin added.

“Let’s pick him up,” Gibbs responded, grabbing the car keys.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's hoping this chapter made sense! I know I promised Danny and Steve time in this chapter, but it didn't fit in this one. It'll definitely be in the next! I've already written it, ready to go! :P
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!


	39. Chapter 39

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings added to tags for content

_Steve regained consciousness quickly, but understanding of his situation took a little longer. Someone was dragging him over the bathroom floor, using his hair as a handhold. He didn’t know how he’d gotten into the situation, but he could guess._

_He tried to get to his feet, but they were going too fast, and he couldn’t quite reach the owner of the hand. Then suddenly, he was dropped back to the floor. He barely had time to curl into a ball to protect himself, before the kicking started._

_Steve didn’t know how long the beating went for, before one of the guards smartened up and drew his baton. But the guy only used it once before one of the other guards stopped him._

_“No Glenn, we’ve gotta be smart about this! This leaves a very distinct mark…” the guard told him, having taken the baton from Glenn. Then his expression turned wicked as he fondled the tip of the weapon, “I’ve got an idea…”_

********************

Danny had just sat back on the couch, after making sure that Grace had gone to bed and was sleeping soundly. She’d taken a while to get to sleep, continually waking to scratch. It was just going to be one of those nights.

It was nearly 10pm by the time he finally had a moment to himself, but of course, that was when he heard it. He’d just sat down and turned the TV on, when he heard the muffled gasp over the baby intercom that he’d set up in Steve’s room. He frowned at the noise and was tempted to write it off, but his gut screamed at him to investigate. And it was a bloody good thing that he did, as no sooner had he opened the door, the other man screamed.

It was only a short scream, more of a shout than anything. But it was enough to wake him up, or at least partially so. Then Steve rocketed out of the bed, crashing into the wall in a bid to escape whatever nightmare was chasing him.

“Steve!” Danny exclaimed, turning on the light to hopefully help the man get his bearings.

Steve gasped and slid along the wall to push himself into the furthermost corner from Danny, “Get back!”

Danny stayed where he was, holding his hands out to show that he wasn’t a threat to the man, “Easy, Steven, easy.”

Steve frowned at him, and Danny was no longer sure if he was in the grips of his nightmare, or in the waking one that was his current reality. The question was partially answered when Steve grabbed a pen from the nightstand and pointed it towards him like a knife. He had no doubt that the former-SEAL could do plenty of damage, no matter how innocuous the instrument. “I’m not going back.”

“No, I know you’re not. I have an understanding with Joe, okay? I’m not turning you in,” Danny tried to placate him.

Steve’s frown deepened and his grip on the pen tightened, he blinked heavily, “Why?”

“Because I believe you’re innocent,” Danny responded, then he sighed and gestured at the chair beside the bed, “Fresh clothes are there if you want to get changed. I’m hungry, so I’m gonna get something to eat. You’re welcome to join me.”

He left the room and went into the kitchen. Well, he wasn’t hungry, but he would bet a month’s pay that the other man was. Or maybe that was the Italian side of him coming out, telling him that he needed to feed this poor, lost soul. And if nothing else, the guy needed space…just not too much of it. He’d probably leg it given half the chance.

He didn’t have to wait long for Steve to limp out of the room and join him in the kitchen. Danny waved at the chairs, “Sit down, before you fall down. Now, what do you want to eat?”

Steve eyed him for a long time, then gave a too—casual shrug, as though trying to appear relaxed, but still being wound super tight. But at least he lowered himself onto a chair, even if he was perched on the end, ready to take flight, “Whatever you’re having.”

Danny rubbed a tired hand through his hair, “Okay, tell you what, whenever I’ve been shot, and that’s only been twice, I craved something simple to eat. When I was in New Jersey, I would’ve given my left arm for a real sandwich. The other thing I craved was pancakes. I don’t feel like making sandwiches, so how do you feel about pancakes?”

“Sounds good,” Steve responded, with a small nod.

“Okay, good,” Danny replied, then got busy making the batter. He watched the other man as he worked, but thankfully, he didn’t look like he was about to keel over. The doc had said that his recovery was going really well, and he’d removed all tubes and medical paraphernalia, aside from the IV lines and a catheter. The IV line had clearly disappeared, and he guessed that the catheter was gone now too, and he winced as he thought about that. He just hoped the former SEAL knew what he was doing when he removed it.

“What filling to you want in your pancakes?” Danny asked.

Steve shrugged again, “I don’t mind.”

“Yes, I gathered that. But you have to have favourites, right? You’re not putting me out by asking for what you want, and nothing is too weird. I have an eight-year-old daughter and she tries a different combination every time I make this for her. So, what do you want? Danny asked.

Steve looked slightly guilty for a moment, before finally answering, “My mother used to put bananas and chocolate chips in them.”

“Did you like it? Is that what you want?”

Steve gave a small nod, “Yeah, please.”

“Okay, chocolate chips and banana pancakes coming right up,” Danny announced, moving around the kitchen to get the fillers. The kitchen was silent as he cooked up the pancakes, and finally served them up. He gave Steve a serving the size that he’d normally give Grace, having a feeling that the man wouldn’t be too hungry. The rest went on his plate, not that he was all that hungry either.

He watched Steve start to eat, before making a start on his own food. After a while, he glanced at Steve to find the man staring at him, “I’m not going to arrest you, you know?”

Steve sighed and averted his gaze, “Sorry, I just… I’m a little low on trust right now. You’re the last person I’d expect to volunteer to babysit me.”

“I didn’t volunteer,” Danny responded idly, “Your old C.O. told me to.”

Steve gave a small grin, “Yeah, sounds like Joe. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry, man, I’ll be outta your hair in the morning.”

“What’s the matter with you? Have you got a God-complex or something? Huh? You’ve just been shot, like, a dozen times, any normal person would be cooped up in bed _in hospital_ for about a month! The least you should do is lay low here until you’re healed. I mean, Jesus! No wonder Joe dropped you off here. He didn’t think you’d rest long enough for the blood on your clothes to dry!” Danny exclaimed, “What’s the hurry? Huh? Where’s the fire?”

Steve stared at him for a moment, clearly digesting everything he’d just said, or maybe it was his manner. Then he frowned, “Okay, firstly, I got shot twice, not a dozen times. And the hurry? What do you think? Every time I turn around, a lead disappears; people, evidence, you name it! I’m no closer to finding Hesse than I was when I was in prison! Which means, I’m no closer to clearing my name. It’s only a matter of time before I zig, when I should zag, and I end up dead or worse, back behind bars. So forgive me for thinking that I’m racing against a clock here!”

“I’m not saying give up looking for answers! I’m not even saying that you should stay for the entire time that Grace and I are locked up in here. I’m just saying that you should give your wounds time to heal so that you’re not held together by duct tape and blu-tac! I mean, what’s the harm in laying low here for, I don’t know, a week? Huh? A week and you’ll be back out there chasing shoe-bombers across the countryside, as if nothing had ever happened,” Danny replied.

“And in the meantime, Hesse could have disappeared off the island,” Steve growled.

“He would anyway! If he’s got a ticket outta here in the next couple of days, do you really think you’d be able to catch and arrest him, in your condition? He – ”

“My condition?” Steve interrupted sharply, “And what condition is that?”

Danny gestured up and down his body, “You’re injured, McGarrett! You nearly died! How do you think you’re gonna chase after the guy, whilst dodging bullets, no less, when you can barely stand? Huh? I mean, I can just imagine you trying to crash tackle the guy from your wheelchair, but I don’t think it’d work out well for you.”

“I’ll do whatever’s necessary,” Steve snapped.

“Yes well…clearly. I mean, you’ve already proven that,” Danny responded, then sighed, feeling tired even though it was still relatively early for him, “Look, just finish the rest of your pancakes, we can discuss the rest in the morning.”

“I’m not hungry,” Steve responded tersely.

Danny shook his head, the man’s sullen attitude and of course, the wording, reminded him of Grace, and he couldn’t help commenting, “Gee, someone woke up on the wrong side of prison this morning, didn’t they?”

Steve stared at him for a moment and he frowned sharply, making Danny wonder if he’d just sparked another heated argument with the man. But then, he cracked a small smile, before ducking his head to hide it.

Danny’s face broke into a grin, “Oh, you liked that, huh?”

He gave the slightest imperceptible trace of a nod, “You’ve been saving that one up for a while, haven’t you?”

“I wanted to say it when we were chatting at the docks,” Danny agreed.

“Oh, you mean, when I pulled you out of the water and saved your life?” Steve asked, with a half-grin.

“Well, now we’ll be even,” Danny responded, “Look man, I’m just saying, give it a week, okay? Let your body recover. Joe has a team of guys going through your case with a fine-tooth-comb.”

“I’ll try, okay? That’s the best I can give you,” Steve finally answered.

“I’ll take it,” Danny said, with a nod. He would just have to do his best to make sure Steve didn’t leave before he was ready, and if that meant bribing him with food, he was up for it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope this hit the spot! There was supposed to be more than this, but I couldn't fit it in without it seeming outta place. But never fear, they'll have more chats later.
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought!
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> Next up: NCIS interrogate Kaleo, and Grace talks to Steve...


	40. Chapter 40

**02 May 2012**

Gibbs stood next to Tony in the observation room in the NCIS office in Pearl Harbour Naval Base. Kaleo was seated on the other side of the glass, staring resolutely at the one-way mirror.

“He hasn’t moved since he got here,” Tony remarked.

Gibbs glanced at his watch, it had been several hours since they’d arrested Kaleo at his home, and it was nearing 0300h now. The time hadn’t loosened the guy up as much as he’d hoped.

Probationary Agent Brad Hughes, the agent who had somehow been assigned to assisting them, frowned, “I don’t understand, why did you arrest the Captain of HPD?”

“Hey Probbie,” Tony jumped in, before Gibbs had the chance to give the man a piece of his mind, “I think -”

“My name’s Brad,” the man interrupted.

“Probbie,” Tony deliberately said again, “We can handle it from here, we’ll call if we need something.”

“I still just… I mean, why are you guys even here? What are you investigating? I never saw a memo –”

“It’s need to know, and you don’t. Okay, thanks Probbie, bye bye now,” Tony interrupted, waving his hand at the man.

They watched the man leave, before exchanging a glance. “I fear for the future of this service,” Tony said, “Really scraping the bottom of the barrel.”

Gibbs smirked, but didn’t respond. After a while, he turned to Tony, “You want a crack at this guy?”

Tony raised his eyebrows, “You’re gonna let me take lead?”

Gibbs shrugged, “He’s not gonna respond to the normal drill, more likely to clam up. You have a … an unconventional way of doing things.”

Tony grinned, “Thanks, boss.”

Then Tony continued standing there, watching the man on the other side. But before Gibbs could open his mouth to find out what was going through the younger man’s head, Tony nodded, “Yeah, I’ve got an idea.”

Gibbs nodded and gestured to the door, “After you.”

“No, wait out here, this’ll be more effective if I go in alone. You’ll know when to come in,” Tony responded, then grabbed a handful of papers from the table, along with the evidence they had so far. Then the man went into the interrogation room, and Gibbs leant against the wall to watch his SFA in action.

**********************************

Kaleo stared Tony down as he entered the room, his face giving nothing away. But that didn’t bother Tony. The truth was that he didn’t think this guy would crack, not with what they had on him, maybe something else would push him over the edge, but not this.

Tony made sure that the stack of papers he was carrying, was in an unorderly mess, just making it to the table in time before some of them fell from the stack.

“Good tactic, but it’s not going to work,” Kaleo finally spoke.

“What’s that?” Tony asked as he sat down.

“Keeping me waiting in here for hours on end,” Kaleo responded, “I used it plenty of times when I was still conducting investigations.”

Tony feigned surprise, “Oh, did we keep you waiting? No, well, that wasn’t intentional, I’ve just been…” he got distracted as he started shuffling through the paperwork, “I mean, I’m sure I’ve got everything…”

As he continued shuffling the papers, he watched the expression on Kaleo’s face morph from disbelief into relief. The man thought he was dealing with a moron, which is just where Tony wanted him. He continued moving the papers about, ‘accidentally’ on purpose letting a picture of a dismembered body fall out, “Sorry, wrong case,” Tony said.

Next, a few witness statements fell out and Tony grimaced, “Oh sorry, you weren’t supposed to see those.” Then he muttered under his breath, loud enough for Kaleo to hear him, “Those are for later.”

Finally, Kaleo rolled his eyes, “Detective – ”

“Special Agent,” Tony interrupted him, “DiNozzo. And you are a Captain.”

“Yes,” Kaleo responded as though Tony was stupid.

Tony grinned, “Wow, must’ve taken a while to climb the ranks.”

“It took long enough,” Kaleo hedged.

Tony nodded, “But it took you longer to get promoted to Lieutenant, than it did for you to get promoted to Captain. What’s that about? Hmm? Were you a really good Lieutenant or a really shit Detective?”

“I want my lawyer,” Kaleo told him.

Tony nodded and grinned, “Yeah, good call. You’re gonna need one.”

*************************************

Steve woke with a start, staring at the wall in front of him as he tried to get his bearings. After what felt like several minutes, but was probably only seconds, he remembered waking up in the detective’s house late last night. The man had fed him, given him the 5-cent tour, then told him to go to bed and get some sleep. The strange thing was that Steve had listened to him, which Steve would blame it on his injury.

Steve slowly got out of bed and went out to the source of the noise that had woken him; Grace was sitting on the floor of the lounge room, watching cartoons. The girl turned around as he got closer and grimaced, “Sorry, did I wake you up?”

Steve gingerly sat on the couch and shook his head, “Nah, I was already awake.”

“Okay,” Grace accepted his lie easily, “Are you still running from the police?”

Steve thought about lying to her but decided against it. He nodded, “Hopefully not for much longer.”

“Is Danno helping you?” she asked.

Steve nodded again, “Yes, he is. I got injured again, so Danno said that he was already looking after you, he may as well look after me. I hear you have the chickenpox?”

The young girl nodded and absently scratched her leg, “I haven’t had the chickenpox before, have you?”

“No,” Steve shook his head, “But I’ve been vaccinated against it.”

“You can still get it, you know?” Grace told him, staring at him with wide eyes, “Danno had it when he was younger, but he can still get it again too, but they call it something else.”

“Shingles,” Danny said tiredly, as he shuffled into the lounge room and turned the volume of the TV down, “It’s supposed to be worse too.”

“Morning Danno,” Grace said chirpily.

“Good morning Monkey,” Danny responded, leaning down to kiss her forehead, “And how’re you feeling today?”

Grace shrugged, “Still itchy.”

“Mmmm,” Danny hummed, “You know a really good cure for that?”

“An oatmeal bath,” Grace responded, sounding defeated.

Danny nodded his head, “That is one cure, yes, but not what I was thinking of.”

“Calamine lotion?” Grace guessed.

“Cooking breakfast, that is a good cure for itching,” Danny corrected, “You can make anything you want, what do you say?”

“Stan taught me how to make French toast?” Grace suggested, with a grin.

“Okay, well you can only cook that if you’re a better cook than he is,” Danny conceded, “Why don’t you make a start, whilst I sort out our guest, okay?”

Grace grinned at him, then ran off into the kitchen. Once the girl was out of sight, Danny turned to his houseguest, “And how’re you feeling this morning?”

“I’m fine,” Steve responded.

“Of course you are,” Danny muttered, then added, “Listen, why don’t you take a bath? Huh? The doc said you can’t get your wounds wet, but you should be fine in the tub and I’m sure you wanna wash up. Once you’re done, I can help put fresh dressings on those wounds. And in the meantime, I’ll make sure my daughter doesn’t burn the house down.”

“That’s not necessary, Danno,” Steve told him.

“The bath or the cleaning your wounds?” Danny asked, then added before Steve could respond, “Just so you know, it wasn’t a suggestion. You and your wounds need to stay clean to prevent infection.”

Steve narrowed his eyes at the blonde, but figured he had a point. It’s not as though he detested the idea of having a bath or that of changing his dressings, he just wasn’t sure if he was happy with someone else being so close to him when he was so vulnerable. But the fact of the matter was that he needed help, if only for the wounds on his back that he couldn’t reach. 

He finally nodded, “Okay.”

“Good, it’s settled then. Give me a shout when you’re ready,” Danny responded, and pointed towards the bathroom, “You remember where the facilities are, right?”

“Yeah,” Steve replied as he gingerly got to his feet again, then slowly walked towards the room.

Danny watched him go, making sure the man didn’t try to pull a swift one on him, but he did as he promised. Then he turned his attention back to the kitchen where his monkey was making a big mess under the guise of making breakfast. Danny grinned, not bothering about the mess for now. After all, they were house-bound for another two and a half or so weeks, there would be plenty of time to clean the kitchen.

After nearly half an hour of to-ing and fro-ing in the kitchen, the food was finally prepared. Grace picked up the plate stacked high with the French toast and glanced around Danny in the direction of the bathroom, “Is Steve going to eat with us? I made enough for him.”

“Of course you did, monkey, I think you made enough to feed a whole army. Why don’t you take those to the table, I’ll see where he is,” Danny responded, ruffling her hair, before walking down to hallway.

He called out to the other man, but didn’t get a response, which was strange. He suppressed a sigh as he knocked on the bathroom door, wondering if Steve had made his getaway whilst they were busy in the kitchen. But when he knocked, the door opened, revealing an empty, but steamy, room.

Danny frowned and went to the guestroom. But this time he didn’t need to knock, the door was ajar and he spotted Steve inside. As he opened the door wider, he found Steve half-dressed and lying on top of the bed, completely passed out. Danny grinned, clearly the man needed sleep more than food.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry the bit with Kaleo was short, but there is method to my madness :P And I also figure he'd lawyer up pretty quick if he thought they had anything on him at all... Or would he....? Stay tuned!
> 
> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> Next up: Another piece of the puzzle is found...


	41. Chapter 41

“I’ve got something,” Kono announced, looking up from her laptop. She held up one of the keys from the toolbox and looked at Chin, “I traced this locker key back to the airport on Molokai.”

“That could be where John hid the evidence he told Mokoto about,” Joe remarked, “I know a chopper pilot you can hook up with, you can get out there today.”

“You’re not coming?” Chin asked.

“No,” Joe answered as he stood up, “Doris missed her check in and isn’t answering my calls.”

“You think something’s happened to her?” Chin asked.

“She could’ve gone comms dark if she needed to get closer and didn’t want to reveal her position,” Joe answered, giving nothing away about what he thought about the situation, “I’ll go to her last known position and assess the situation, call in back up if needed.”

“Do you need us to stay here?” Kono asked.

Joe shook his head and paused as he got to the door, “Got a SEAL team on standby. You two head to Molokai, find out what’s in that locker.”

Kono turned to Chin, “Let’s go on an adventure. It’ll be like old times.”

“Yeah, it will, only the stakes are higher this time,” Chin responded.

********************************************

Danny’s head dipped forward, jerking him awake from the impromptu nap he’d taken. He sighed and put his head back against the couch, content to continue napping. After all, the rest of the household were taking a nap. Grace had fallen asleep about three quarters of the way through the movie, and usually Danny didn’t like her sleeping so early in the day if he could help it. But the poor kid was having trouble sleeping because of the itching, so he was happy to let her catch up on some zzz’s.

The movie – one of the Lion King ones – had finished now and the screen was rolling the credits. Danny pressed a few buttons on the remote to restart the movie, if only to keep the sound going. He found that the music stopping would wake Grace up, every time without fail.

As the sound of ‘The Circle of Life’ played, another sound caught his attention and he glanced up to find Steve slowly making his way into the lounge. Danny waited until the man was seated, before asking, “Sleep well?”

Steve gave him a lopsided grin, “Didn’t mean to fall asleep, bath must’ve relaxed me a bit.”

Danny snorted, “You were out cold when I went to check on you. Come on, let’s redo your dressings whilst the rugrat’s sleeping. I’ll make you some breakfast afterwards.”

Steve nodded, then got up, which was accompanied by a wince, “You ah, you waited for me to sit down before saying that, didn’t you?”

“Yeah babe, I wanted to cause you more pain than necessary, so yeah, I did it deliberately,” Danny responded sarcastically, as he followed Steve to the bedroom, “What’s the matter with you?”

Steve didn’t reply, he stood awkwardly in the room for a moment, before taking his shirt off. Danny tried not to stare at the scars on the man’s torso, but he couldn’t help but wonder how many of those injuries were the result of his stay in prison.

“Why don’t you lie down? Huh? It’ll be easier. You can sit up when I do your back,” Danny eventually told him, then grabbed his make-shift first aid rucksack.

Steve slowly complied, laying on his back on the bed. Danny huffed and began the process of cleaning and reapplying the bandages. He made sure to move slowly to make sure Steve was tracking him, he had no doubt that this position made the man feel vulnerable, so his guard would be raised.

Danny frowned at one of the wounds as he tended to it, “Is this from the shank during your escape?”

“Yeah.”

Danny nodded, “Just thought it would have completely healed by now.”

“I wasn’t exactly looking after myself…” Steve answered after a moment of silence, “It didn’t do me any favours.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

Steve gave a half-shrug, “Not really. I … I was depressed. Hesse was dead and … and there was just nothing for me, you know? I mean, there still isn’t.”

“You saying you were suicidal?”

Steve gave the slightest imperceptible nod, “Lost of couple of weeks… drinking… not eating… I was gonna… you know… but I didn’t. Anyway, Hesse’s still around, I’m gonna kill him.”

Danny tried not to let his feelings show on his face, not that it mattered, Steve was avoiding his eyes anyway. He couldn’t imagine what the other man had gone through and probably still was going through. “Steve, I’ve gotta know, do you still feel suicidal?”

Steve finally glanced at him and gave a half-shrug and shook his head, “You’ve gotta understand, Danny. I thought the one chance at clearing my name was dead. My one chance at an exoneration. You know, I can go off the grid and live for months, years on end if I need to, but what would be the point? If everyone thought I’d killed my father and there was no way of proving otherwise, I’d be a fugitive for life. Constantly looking over my shoulder. I would have to turn my back on everything that made my life meaningful, and then try to start anew, probably on my own without any kind of meaningful connection. So what’s the point?”

“You’d be alive,” Danny pointed out.

“And live with the guilt and the shame of everyone thinking I did that?” Steve asked, “It doesn’t matter that I didn’t. Put it like this, you know when you’ve had a big night, too much to drink? And then the next day, you get the, the horrors – where you go, ‘Oh shit, I think I told Nathan that I think he’s a prick’ or jeez, I don’t know, just you think that you did something wrong. Times that feeling by about a thousand, and that’s what I feel about my dad’s death and people thinking I did it. And the worst thing is that it doesn’t go away – no, scrap that, the worst thing is thinking about how I could’ve prevented it. The constant what ifs. I don’t want to have to live through that, not if I can’t at least make this right.” 

“We’ll fix this, Steve,” Danny told him, “And you know, you’re wrong about there being nothing for you. . I mean, from where I’m sitting there’s a lot of people here who care about you and are willing to do what it takes to clear your name. Take for instance, your C.O., he has a lot to lose by being here, but he’s here anyway,” Danny responded.

“That’s because he feels guilty about what went down,” Steve replied, “He thinks he failed me.”

“What about the SEAL team? Or Chin? I know there’s more people who’ve been helping you – ”

“Danny,” Steve interrupted, then sighed, “Look, it’s great they’re all doing what they can, but I thought my only chance of getting out of this was gone. I just… I thought that there was no hope left. The guys… they’re doing a great job, but at the end of the day, if we can’t turn Hesse in, that’s it. There’s nothing else. They can keep investigating, but they won’t turn something up that clears my name.”

“You know that NCIS is on board now? We have more pull with them here. I can catch you up on everything I know, Joe’s been keeping me updated on their progress,” Danny told him, “There’s more to this than those two Irish terrorists.”

Steve frowned and met Danny’s eyes again, “I think you need to bring me up to speed, I don’t like being in the dark.”

********************************

Chin waited impatiently for the chopper to get back to Honolulu and land. He and Kono had easily located the locker in the Molokai airport, and had spent a few minutes searching it before finally turning up the small SD card. He just wished he’d had the forethought to bring a laptop with him for the flight. The return flight felt five times as long as the flight out there, but he knew that was because he thought they had something important here and it was skewing his perception of time.

“What do you think it is?” Kono asked over the headset.

“I don’t know,” Chin answered, “Hopefully it’s John’s files, his case notes into the investigation.”

Kono nodded, but her face showed her doubt. “How much longer?” she asked the pilot.

“Twenty minutes or so?” the pilot responded, “Not long now.”

Chin sighed and had to concentrate hard to prevent his foot from jumping up and down nervously. He felt the same pressure he’d felt when they’d confiscated nearly $5 million in drugs and were ferrying it to the forensics lab, paranoid that at every turn, someone would T-bone the van and take off with the goods. 

The closer they got to the small airfield, the more Chin relied on his gut and suspected he was right. The first thing he noticed when he saw the landing strip was the amount of HPD vehicles, which only spelt trouble. 

“Did you invite some friends?” Chin asked Kono, turning back to look at her.

Kono frowned and shook her head, “I only told Kaleo about the storage locker, like Gibbs told me to.”

Chin sighed and handed over the SIM card, “If they think you’re on the up and up, they won’t arrest you. You need to find out what’s on this card.”

Kono nodded and pocketed the card, then looked back out the window anxiously. “How did they even know about us taking the chopper?”

“Had to lodge flight plans, sorry,” the pilot responded.

Kono and Chin exchanged a glance, but didn’t say anything. When they finally landed, they didn’t have to wait long for a couple of HPD officers to show up at the door, demanding their exit. Kono and Chin did what they were told, then when they were a suitable distance from the chopper, they cuffed Chin.

“Chin Ho Kelly?” one of them asked.

“Yeah, that’s the name,” Chin responded.

“You’re under arrest for tampering with evidence and interfering with an ongoing investigation,” the officer responded, then read him his rights.

“I’ll get you a lawyer,” Kono told him, getting a grateful nod back from Chin. Then she turned to the other officer, “Why’s he been arrested? What evidence tampering?”

“You’re Officer Kono Kalakaua, right?” the officer responded.

“What? Are you going to arrest me too?” Kono replied, ready to fight.

The guy shook his head, “We’re under orders not to touch you. Kelly moved evidence from McGarrett’s storage unit, Kaleo told us to get an arrest warrant this morning.”

“He’s in jail, how did he do that?”

The officer shrugged, “I’m just going by the warrant. Got another one for his associate, Joe White, know where I can find him?”

“Joe White? What’s he being charged with?” Kono asked.

“Evidence tampering, two counts of murder and one of attempted murder,” the officer responded.

Kono frowned, “Two counts…? You mean those two Yakuza henchmen who were killed on Mokoto’s property?”

“That’s what the warrant says, yeah,” the officer replied, “If you see him, you need to report it in.”

“Kono,” Chin called as the other officer helped him none-too-gently into the back of the cruiser.

“Cousin, we’ll fix this,” Kono responded as she went over.

Chin shook his head, “Call Joe, then Gibbs. And don’t forget about what we found; I think it’s important.”

Kono nodded, “I will, don’t say anything, okay? I’ll get this sorted.”

Chin nodded in response, then the car was driving away. Kono gave a small wave, then darted back to her car, there was no time to waste.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought! :)
> 
> Thanks again to Phoebe!
> 
> Next up: Kono finds out what's on the card...


End file.
